


Far Longer Than Forever

by BonneyQ



Series: Longer Than Forever [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:05:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1167899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BonneyQ/pseuds/BonneyQ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A month after the Games, Gray and Juvia's relationship seems to be developing well, but when something comes up to disturb their peace, things can get a out of hand. Will Gray and Fairy Tail get in time to save her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Come on, Gray-sama.” The blue haired woman asked, pouting a little as she followed the object of her happiness around their guild. “It’s been a while since we went together in a mission.”  
  
The man groaned as he finally found a place to sit and because the little water mage was asking the same question for the last ten minutes. He had a sandwich in hand and just wanted to eat it in peace. “I just returned from a mission, Juvia. I am tired and taking the rest of the week off.”  
  
The girl pouted and sat beside him. “Juvia thought that we could use some alone time.” She emphasized the word on purpose. It was funny when he blushed and it happened more frequently than before.  
  
Gray’s cheeks were red in a second once the innuendo of her words sank in his mind. “B-baka! What are you saying?”  
  
“You know, Gray-sama.” Juvia put her hands over her cheeks and looked away from him with a silly smile on her face. “We should go out alone more often. We are hardly together these days.”  
  
“Shut up.” Gray groaned, still blushing. Juvia giggled as she leaned over the table, using her arms as support/pillow and stared at him, smiling brightly. “What?” He asked after a moment, looking at her warily. Anything could come from her.  
  
“Don’t know.” She shrugged. “Juvia’s just happy to be here with you, Gray-sama.” He frowned; that came out of nowhere. The girl was very vocal about her happiness when she was around Gray, but she never looked like that. She never looked at him with those sincere eyes and just told him that she was happy with being blown off. “Unfortunately Juvia has to go to her mission now.” A bad feeling spread over his gut. Something wasn’t right and his gut knew it. She was getting up and still talking to him, but the bad feeling was still bothering him. “When Juvia returns, she’ll find you, Gray-sama and… maybe we can have Frank’s Caramades again?” She asked with uncertainty. “Just… us?”  
  
“Sure.” He shrugged; a slight pink appearing on his cheeks. He was trying his best to be more open about her and what he might let himself to feel for her. It wasn’t like he didn’t know that they had something going on he couldn’t quite identify just yet.  
  
“Then Juvia must go to return soon!” She said, hands in fists, really fired up to return soon. Gray frowned when the bad feeling returned. “Bye, Gray-sama.” The blunette started to walk away, when Gray grabbed her wrist.  
  
She stopped and looked at him with confusion. “Gray-sama?”  
  
The man had a frown on his face and was staring at their hands together. Even he couldn’t understand why he had done it. It wasn’t like any other time he touched her. This time, he was feeling like he had to hold her there.  
  
His gut was telling him to not let her away from his sight.  
  
“Be careful.” He said and let go of her wrist, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. Gray was not one to show publically his affection towards others very often.  
  
Juvia tilted her hand to the side, confused by his actions but at the same time, she thought it was sweet that he was worried about her. “Juvia always is.”  
  
Gray nodded and returned his attention to his sandwich. He was about to take a bite when he felt a warmth on his cheek, he was surprised when he understood that Juvia had given him a butterfly kiss. He turned to stare at her, but she was already leaving.  
  
She was walking away when she turned to look at him over her shoulder and offered him a smile.  
  
After the shock, Gray couldn’t help but smile a little himself. Ever since the games, their relationship had been developing in a way he was finally getting comfortable with. Juvia was still Juvia, but she didn’t seem pushy to him anymore. If anything, he liked to have her around and was well aware that she was more than just a nakama to him at that point.  
  
When she left the guild, the bad feeling returned. He didn’t know why, but he just wanted to see her back, safe and sound.  
  


#

Juvia’s eyes snapped open and she felt nauseous and dizzy at the same time. The back of her head was throbbing and for a moment, she thought she was going to get sick. What had happened to her? She blinked fast so her vision could get clearer, but there wasn’t much light to get used to.

She could see that there were more people with her, a few meters away. Juvia looked to her hands and could see that she had handcuffs around her wrists. The blunette looked around and also could see that she was behind bars.

But what worried her the most was that she couldn’t feel her magic. Not even a bit.


	2. Stand Tall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “If I can't meet you still, forever  
> I don't know what will be happen to me now  
> I know that it something most important now yes that is you  
> Even if slow compared with other one, it doesn't matter anymore to me  
> It is a timely encounter of destiny it's never too late” CNBlue – Never Too Late

Juvia looked around and finally could see that the other people sharing the jail cell with her were other girls; they looked scared and curious about her. She could see that they were young, maybe fifteen-years-old?  
  
“Where…?” The blunette tried to say, but her mouth was dry and that never happened before. She was a Water Mage, for goodness sake! She wasn’t supposed to be dry.  
  
“You were caught yesterday.” The woman who appeared to be the older one of them all spoke. Her hair was a dirty blonde, emphasis on dirty. All the girls were dirty and some had bruises on their bodies, Juvia noticed. But she was a little out of it yet.  
  
“Caught?” Juvia was still dizzy. “By whom?”  
  
“We just call them The Guards.” The girl who spoke before told her. “Or S.O.B’s, your choice.” She shrugged. The blunette tried to have a good look to the woman, she looked like she was about twenty-five years old or so. Definitely the older woman there.  
  
“Where are we?” Juvia tried to stand, but found her legs to be a little too shaken up to do so but settled in an awkward sitting position, her arms in front of her for some support, the handcuffs still on her wrists.  
  
“Some little town. We don’t know the name of it; the Guards never talk about it.” The girl shrugged again. And when Juvia tried to get closer to her, the other girls shrunk in fear. “Calm down, girls. She’s one of us now.”  
  
“One of whom?” Juvia managed to say.  
  
“Sorry to be the one who tells this, but we are going to be sold.” Juvia’s eyes widened with shock. “They are going to sell us in an auction in three days.”  
  
“What?” Juvia was trying to wrap her mind around it. Human traffic? Was that still a thing? She knew that a few hundred years back, it was an open thing to buy another human to make them slaves, but she had no idea it was still going on. And why didn’t she feel her magic? As much as she tried, she couldn’t gather it. She needed an answer; she had to get her magic back somehow. “I... I am a mage. With magic, Juvia could’ve been able to break us out of here, but…”  
  
“We are all mages.” Dirty blonde said, interrupting Juvia’s rambling.  
  
“Wha…? What?” Juvia looked to the six girls she was sharing the cage with. The younger of them all was about thirteen, had light green hair and reminded Juvia a lot of Wendy, which broke her heart. The others, with the exception of Dirty Blonde, were no older than fifteen. If they were really mages, they were almost newbies.  
  
“Do you remember what happened to you?” Dirty blonde asked and Juvia shook her head, feeling the nausea return, now with a headache. “Don’t worry. It’ll come to you later. You need to rest right now; you are feeling nauseous and achy because you were drugged. Try to sleep for a moment. When you wake up, I’ll explain the rest.”  
  
Juvia nodded, really tired and nauseous, like the woman said. And she was in no state of focusing in anything at the moment.  
  
“What’s your name?” Juvia asked, lying on the dirty floor not really caring if it wasn’t exactly sanitary. She just wanted to rest for a bit.  
  
“Laura Birdsong from Harpia Wing.” She answered. “You?”  
  
“Juvia, Juvia Lockser from Fairy Tail,” The blunette closed her eyes. She was drugged, that’s for sure. There’s no way she would just sleep in a place like that if she wasn’t. But her body was forcing her to do it. And she was sure that she was going to need as much strength as she could gather.  
  
Before fall asleep, she could hear the girls whispering about Fairy Tail. She didn’t mind it; all she could do was let her body heal.  
  


#

Gray was bored.

Natsu was engaged in some fight with Gajeel and he didn’t want to join them just yet. He would, eventually, like all the other times, but not at that moment. He was bored of being bored. Why on earth did he want a free week? It wasn’t like he had much to do in Magnolia. He had cleaned his apartment, bought some non-perishable food, did his laundry (actually, he left it with the old lady he paid to wash it) and now he had nothing else to do. Maybe he should’ve gone in a mission.

“Problem, Gray?” Mira asked, smiling kindly while putting his beverage in front of him, ice cold as he liked. “You seem to the thinking a lot today.”

“Everything’s fine, Mira.” Gray mumbled. “I told myself that I would take the rest of the week off, but I am bored. And it’s just day one.”

Mira giggled. “Maybe you should’ve gone with Juvia in her mission, like she asked.”

“Oh, you heard that.” Gray groaned.

“Everyone heard that.” Her smile didn’t falter. “She always asks for you to go with her. It’s sweet.”

He snorted. “’Sweet.’”

“It is.” Mirajane started to leave. “One day you’ll see and maybe one day she’ll finally have the courage to give you more than a kiss on the cheek.” Gray’s head snapped towards the woman that held the nickname of ‘Demon’ as she winked and left. Sometimes she really was a demon.

But it sure made him stop to think about the Water Mage. Not that the subject was foreign to him, actually. She has been more and more in his thoughts and he couldn’t put his finger on what was happening inside his mind.

Juvia Lockser was a strange girl, which was what he kept telling himself. She always complained about being gloomy, about rain falling down because of her, but Gray have yet to see that side of her. She had seen her unhappy when she was still his enemy, but besides that, she actually looked more cheerful than some people he knew.

There was just something about her that just sparkled, even when she was angry.

For him, was actually funny (later, of course) whenever she got angry because even though he was aware that she was strong enough to be an S-class mage, when she was around him Gray wondered how such a small person could get angry.

And she didn’t really get angry with him, not since the rescue of Lucy from Phantom Lord. Au contraire. She got fonder of him, really. That much he gathered. And of course, later on he would see that it was more than just that. Her feelings were deeper than he thought.

‘Thanks, Mira.’ Gray thought and frowned. ‘Now my mind is going to dangerous territory.’

Gray knew even before the Games. He knew it and refused to face the facts about her feelings, and even more importantly: his own.

It was really silly for him to deny that he didn’t feel some shadow of something for the girl, but what could he call it? What it meant? What could be the consequences of it? Because Gray was not as careless as Natsu, who would just put his emotions out there with no plan whatsoever.

No, Gray was careful and he would need a plan to deal with that situation. To tell the truth, he was pushing the moment of decision as long as he could. Things could get messy and in his heart, Gray knew that Juvia would wait for it.

But Lyon wouldn’t.

Gray groaned again, letting his head fall towards the table with a big ‘thud’. The pain in his ass, Lyon Vastia would never leave them alone. Especially Juvia, even though she made herself very clear that she was not interested in him.

But Lyon was not a man to give up, that much Gray knew. And if Juvia could grow in Gray’s heart, maybe the white haired man could do the same with her?

He slammed his head on the table again. He was being ridiculous. Juvia was his… Juvia. She wasn’t going to stray away from him. Not after everything they went through. Not after Gray finally noticing that she was more than just a friend.

A loud crash close to him made his mind focus once again on the fight that now involved not only Natsu and Gajeel, but also Elfman and somehow Loke was there as well.

So, Gray pushed his decision again; he went to join the commotion so his mind was away from Juvia and feelings. He’d rather punch someone. He had time.

#

When Juvia regained conscience, the blonde girl, Laura –as she remembered her saying before–, was now beside her, with a glass of water. She helped Juvia sit.

“Here.” Laura said and Juvia took a good gulp. She couldn’t remember the last time she was that thirsty in her life. “Easy…”

“Thank you.” Juvia said and she noticed that she was feeling much better. Not ideal, but the nausea was gone.

“Don’t worry.” Laura shrugged. “We only have each other now.”

Juvia shook her head. “No… Fairy Tail…”

“They will receive a letter saying that you are dead, killed during the mission. That’s what they did concerning all of us. Our guilds believed it and didn’t search for us.”

“Not Fairy Tail.” Juvia said stronger this time. “They won’t believe it. Trust me.”

Laura sighed with indulgence and nodded. “Okay, having hope is all we got now.”

“It’s not hope; it’s a fact.” Juvia tried to stand and the blonde woman helped her. “If Juvia could just talk to anyone from her guild… Anyone, they would come. Juvia knows.” Laura looked to her with sympathy and Juvia felt that the woman did not believe in her words. “Juvia knows because she was part of rescue missions.”

“We can talk about it later.” Laura dismissed what Juvia was saying with a wave of her hand and Juvia noticed that she was too handcuffed. The blunette eyes the other girls and all of them seemed to be in the same estate as the other two. While she was staring to them, Laura continued talking. “Juvia, you must prepare yourself. Now that you are awake, they will come for you.”

Juvia’s head snapped towards Laura. “What do you mean?”

“They do it to every girl they bring.” The blonde waved to the girls. “Those bruised didn’t just appear out of nowhere.”

The little color that Juvia’s face had was drained. Were they beaten? Why? They were children! And Juvia was sure that they didn’t resist much.

“They are children.” Juvia murmured to herself and Laura eyed her with curiosity. “What kind of monsters would…?”

“Juvia, I mean it. They are coming for you. Do you understand?” The blonde woman was concerned that the blunette didn’t understand what was going to happen to her. “They will…”

“Yes, Juvia understands.” Even in the darkness of the cage, Laura could see the determination in Juvia’s eyes. “Don’t worry. Juvia has been in S-class missions; she’s used to getting hurt.”

Laura was about to say something, but stopped herself. After a moment of silence, she spoke quietly so the other girls couldn’t hear. “They do it to show it to us that we can’t escape. That they have the power, I guess. To break us.”

Juvia’s eyes softened as she went closer to Laura. She had green eyes, Juvia could see now. Using the same quiet voice, Juvia said, putting a hand on the other woman’s shoulder: “But they didn’t break you. You still have hope deep inside. Don’t give it up. We’ll come up with a plan to save all of us.” Laura didn’t understand why, but she nodded. And she did in fact felt more hope than she felt in a very long time. What was with that girl? “Tell Juvia… Do they do it here?” Laura shook her head.

“They take us to a room and then…” She gulped as Juvia nodded.

“Good. The girls don’t need to see any of it.”

“You just met us, why you care about them all of a sudden?” Laura asked.

The blunette shrugged and then smiled to her, despite of all odds. “You said it yourself: Juvia’s one of you now. And Juvia takes care of her friends.” Laura frowned. That was one strange girl. “You said that they will come for Juvia, right?” The blonde nodded. “Okay. Juvia remembered how she was captured, but not why she’s can’t do magic. Once Juvia returns, could you tell her what you know about this place?”

“Yes. But…” She was interrupted by a door opening and light invaded the room. Juvia could see now that her cage wasn’t the only one. Across it, beyond the bars of her cell, there was another one with more girls. This was getting out of hand.

“It seems that we found a Fairy…” A disgusting male voice echoed through the walls of their little cage. “Here Fairy, Fairy, Fairy.” Juvia could see the shadow of a man approaching.

Laura noticed Juvia stiffen her body and her once soft eyes were now steely, cold. She had seen eyes like that in battle and the woman in front of her was preparing herself for it.

“Don’t fight back. They don’t like it…” Laura whispered as the steps got closer. She shrunk back and went to go stay with the girls.

When the man came to view, Juvia was standing tall, chin raised and prepared to whatever that man dared to throw at her. She was a Fairy Tail mage and she was going to take it like one.

#

Back in Magnolia, Gray already stopped fighting and was thinking of what to eat for lunch. It had been awhile since he had Franks Caramades. Maybe he should…

‘When Juvia returns, she'll find you, Gray-sama and… maybe we can have Frank's Caramades again? Just… us?’

He stopped and his mind returned to Juvia. He had said yes, hadn’t he? They were going to eat it together when she returns from her mission. She was so excited. Gray chuckled when he thought of her. But then it returned.

The bad feeling.

He never felt that way when she was away before. He was never that nervous. He was never that preoccupied. Juvia was strong, she didn’t need a babysitter, and he certainly didn’t have reason to worry. From what he could gather, it was an easy mission.

Then why it seemed like someone was squeezing his heart?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Harpia is the Portuguese name for Harpy. I liked Laura. Don’t know, I think Juvia needs an ally and a friend between all the bad stuff.


	3. A Blue Fairy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “If I could break this spell  
> I'd run to him today  
> And somehow I know he's on his way to me  
> Derek, you and I were meant to be”  
> The Swan Princess – Far Longer Than Forever  
> 

The door closed behind Juvia. She was still with her chin raised and her body straightened. The man who came to get her was a big guy with horrible thick beard. He had taken her to an office and she tried her best to remember the layout of the place.  
  
She had passed by four doors before Big Guy stopped and knocked on the fifth.  
  
There were three guys already inside, two standing and the third was sitting behind a desk. He seemed to be the boss.  
  
His eyes scanned Juvia from head to toe, dark eyes in contrast with his light blonde hair. He had a much angled face and was too skinny. She remembered Master Jose for a moment.  
  
The other two guys, Juvia recognized one; it was one of the men who took her and she assumed that the other was also there when she was taken.  
  
Juvia was humming a random song while walked down the quiet road. She had taken the train, it was a 2-hour-ride and she still had to walk more thirty minutes –besides de forty she already did– to get to the small village she was supposed to go, Flores.  
  
She could only hear her own humming and a few bird chirps; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She let her guard down. She wasn’t paying enough attention.  
  
At the very moment she stepped inside the runes, she went alert but it was too late. Her body wasn’t turning into water as much as she tried. She felt something sting on the side of her neck and when she reached for it, she took a small dart out of it.  
  
“Poison?” She mumbled to herself, looking around and bumping into the invisible walls of the runes. She had to get out somehow but her mind was getting fuzzy.  
  
When she saw a man come down from a tree, she tried to fight the dizziness as much as she could. Oh, it was bad.  
  
“Holy shit, Sinuil.” He said and she frowned. What was he saying? “She’s still standing!”  
  
“Not for long.” A voice came from behind her and before she could turn, Juvia felt pain on the back of her head and everything went black.  
  
“What Guild are you from, girl?” The Boss asked, snapping Juvia from her thoughts. He was still staring at her with clinical eyes.  
  
“Fairy Tail.” She said and neither stuttered or shifted her gaze from his.  
  
“BLOODY IDIOTS!” The Boss yelled and slammed his hands down on the desk, getting up. “There’s only one rule, one! ‘Don’t you ever get a mage from the Big Guilds’ and Fairy Tail is the biggest! They won this year’s Games, morons!” The Boss pointed at Juvia. “And now we can’t let her go, can we? She knows too much.” Juvia saw the two guys shrink in fear, while she didn’t. It would take more than a yelling guy to make her feel afraid. “You were supposed to send this mission to Fair Vale, not Fairy Tail, idiots!”  
  
The guys’ mouths shaped a perfect ‘o’ as they realized their mistake.  
  
“Boss, the names are very simil…”  
  
“Shut. Up!” Boss’ face was getting red with anger. “Why would I jeopardize this operation by taking mage from a high profile Guild?”  
  
While they argued, Juvia noticed that all three of the remaining guys were afraid of the Boss and since he was s small man compared to the others and a little scrawny, she had to assume that he had some skill. He wasn’t a mage, she guessed; but something made the men to be scared.  
  
“Fine, fine.” The Boss calmed himself down and sat back on his chair. “Let’s make the best of it.” His eyes returned to measure Juvia. “She’s pretty.” He squint his eyes. “I recognize her… Those Fairy Tail girls are always on the magazines…”  
  
“I think… I think that she was at the Games, Boss.” Big Guy, the one who brought her from the cell, said. “She was one of the five who fought the last battle.”  
  
Recognition passed though the Boss’ face. “The Water Mage! You fought that Stellar Spirit… Pisces? No…” He frowned. “Aquarius! You were giving it a run for its money! And then there were Chelia Blendy, the God Slayer and the second strongest guy in Lamia Scale, Lyon Vastia.” Happiness spread through his expression as he rested his chin on his hands, looking almost innocent. “Pretty, from Fairy Tail and showed her strength during the games! Boys, your mistake will make us rich! The buyers will be thrilled once they know that we caught a Fairy!” He smiled wickedly. “Imagine: have your own Fairy Tail as a pet! Oh, the money we will gain…” The guys who were being scolded smiled at each other, but it soon vanished when the Boss’ dark eyes snapped towards them and said in an icy voice: “You two will be punished later for being idiots, Martov and Sinuil.” They nodded,” Now… what one do when he caught a Fairy?  
  
“ We can’t just treat her like we treat those small fish.” The Boss said with a silky voice; eyes sparkling in an insane way and Juvia narrowed her own deep blue ones. That man was a big sadist, she could tell. “No, you are too valuable to break you that way. Your new master will want to do it.” He sighed like he was disappointed. “Look at these eyes… there’s a fighter in her, we all saw it during the games.” He let out a dark giggle. “You were a bit silly at the beginning, but once you got a hold of it, girl…” His eyes closed as if he was remembering something. “It was beautiful, I remember. The way you and Titania stood all dirty and bleeding while the Dragon Slayer surrender because of the look in your eyes… The same look you are giving to me right now.”  
  
Juvia didn’t say a thing. She had to collect as much information as she could, even though he wasn’t giving any, besides the fact that he was a psychopath.  
  
“Maybe…” He purred. “Maybe I need to tame you a little bit before the auction. If you can intimidate a Dragon Slayer, what would you do to one of my buyers?” Juvia didn’t point it out the fact that she was not alone when facing Sting Eucliff. It was better if he thought that she was tougher than she looked.” No… you need taming. It’ll be fun.”  
  
“But Boss, you said that we can’t have her like the others, so… What will we do?” Big Guy asked.  
  
“Oh, you won’t do a thing.” He waved his hand dismissingly. “I’ll tame her. I bet she’s a hell of a fighter.” He smiled. “Put her on The Room, I’ll be there in a moment. I need to write a few lords about our newest acquisition.”  
  
Big Guy pulled Juvia roughly out of the Boss’ room and took her to the next one, where she was shoved inside. It was, like the other places with the exception of the Boss’ chambers, dirty and had a hook hanging from the ceiling.  
  
The man made her raise her hands over her head while he hung her there by the handcuffs, thankfully her feet could touch the ground.  
  
After he was done, Big Guy approached his ugly face to hers and said: “Don’t be so relieved, Fairy. The Boss’ the worse of us.” She didn’t batted and eyelash, while he laughed his way out of the room.  
  
When he was gone, Juvia scanned the place and saw no way out besides the door she just came in from. As she realized it, as she waited the man behind the whole operation, she let out a sigh.  
  
She let herself feel afraid. Just for a few minutes, she could. No one was there to see her, especially not one of the girls; not when she spoke so high of Fairy Tail and how they could rescue her. It wasn’t like she didn’t trust her friends: the opposite. She was certain that they would try their best to rescue her.  
  
But she could let herself panic for a few moments. It was a natural reaction and she needed to do it while no one saw her; not the girls, not the guards and much less the ‘Boss’.  
  
So, while she was alone in the room, waiting for whatever, she had to pass through all of the phases of grief because once that man stepped inside the room, she was going to be brave again; she wasn’t allowed to be afraid anymore.  
  
She had to fight.  
  


#

The Boss entered the room about twenty minutes later, she guessed. His wicked smile was still in place while Juvia glared daggers. He took his dark coat off and neatly folded, putting it on a chair that was in a corner.

“Juvia Lockser.” He said, turning to face her. “I found a magazine with your photograph from when you were participating on the Games.” Since the blunette said nothing, he continued. “You have quite a body, don’t you? I don’t know why you wear these clothes that only make you look like a nun.” The blonde man stepped closer to her and ran his fingers over the long sleeve of her usual dark blue dress. To her credit, Juvia only flinched a little with his touch. “Only your hands appear with this dress. And the boots don’t exactly help.” His hand started to go south on her arm, until it reached the base of her neck. “Such white skin.” He whispered. “And no marks or scars as far as I can tell. But I can’t see much. Not with all these clothes on.” He reached for the buttons of her dress and started undoing them, slowly one by one, and she still had his eyes locked on him.

“How’s that? Your fever gone down a little?” The dark haired man asked while looking down to her with a small smile, almost a smirk, but for the first during that fight, she didn’t pay much attention to him. No, not when she could see something light blue appear on the usually gray sky.

“Huh…?” She said to herself. “The rain… has stopped…” Juvia couldn’t understand what was happening until the dark haired man spoke.

“Ah! It finally cleared up.” He said and she finally understood. She was seeing the blue sky. And in all her life she never saw anything so beautiful.

Her mind returned to the man when he said: “So… You still want more?” He was smirking and the blue sky was now the second most beautiful thing she ever saw.

Her dress was now open and the Boss licked his lips. “Not a single scar indeed.” He sighed in fake sadness. “Too bad that I can’t let you stay that way; the other girls might get jealous of you and we know how jealous women can be.” His hand was on her bare stomach as she let another happy memory flood in her mind.

She couldn’t control her body and she hated attacking Lucy. It was true that she was her rival in love, but that was just cruel. Juvia was crying inside and somehow, Lucy knew.

“Someone who shed tears for the sake of her friends could never be rejected by Fairy Tail!” Lucy said and now Juvia’s tears weren’t of sadness. As the blonde girl made her move –a very clever one, Juvia had to admit to herself by summoning Aquarius using Juvia’s body–, she snapped out of it and her body was her own again. There was too much water and when Lucy called her name, Juvia reached for the other girl with equal eagerness. The blunette knew that somehow if they were together, Vivaldo would fall. They just had to…

Their hands got together and started glowing. And then Juvia knew that they were sharing magic. It was one of the almost legendary Unison Raid. Somehow she was in sync with Lucy.

And when they defeated the formerly long haired man, they hugged in celebration. And for the first time in her life, Juvia felt like she had a girlfriend.

The Boss chuckled happily when he saw Juvia’s stern face. “I’ve been groping you and you haven’t begged me to stop yet. The other girls were no fun. Even before I started, they were whimpering. You flinched lightly one or twice.” He leaned towards her and whispered close to her ear. “Too bad for you: I enjoy the whimpering.” Suddenly, there was a pain on her left side, right under her ribs.

Natsu was running after Lucy, trying to make her fight him. The poor girl would lose in a moment if they fought for real. Juvia respected Lucy as a mage, but Natsu was a monster, much like Gajeel.

The blunette looked towards her oldest and only friend she ever had before joining Fairy Tail. He was staring at the exchange with a curious look on his face.

“What’s wrong, Gajeel-kun?” She asked, worried. They were new there.

“Nothing…” He said, not looking away from the other girls and Natsu as they laughed together.

Juvia understood, then. He was confused; in Phantom Lord such thing would be considerate a weakness and they couldn’t be seen as weak. They were the strongest.

“This Guild is a lot of fun, isn’t it?” She asked softly and Gajeel’s red eyes moved to a random place.

“They’re fuckin’ crazy.” He muttered and Juvia giggled softly. She felt like she could really be a friend to Gajeel now that they were at Fairy Tail. In Phantom, they bonded because they were strong and outcasts. People would be either scared or unwilling to speak to them.

So, against all odds, an Iron Dragon Slayer and a Water Mage became somewhat friends.

And because of Fairy Tail, Juvia could show her affection for her friend without being called weak; she could be nice for no reason at all but that she wanted. Yes, going to Fairy Tail was the best decision she have done. And she was glad she talked to Master Makarov about Gajeel and his kind heart beneath the iron façade.

It was her right side that was in pain now and she couldn’t hold a small noise and while he kept punching and kicking her stomach and legs, she tried her best to not make a sound.

“Right, left. Right, right, left!” The Boss said gleefully.

There wasn’t more pain to a Water Mage than being electrocuted while in their water form and when Juvia did attack the electric lachryma, the pain was so intense; it seemed like forever but she knew that it didn’t last more than a few seconds.

She hated what Freed Justine was doing: make comrades fight each other? That wasn’t the Fairy Tail that she knew and loved. And Juvia would die before attacking a guild mate just because.

When she fell on the ground, her back hurt a lot, but she was happy that she didn’t have to attack Cana. She was a good friend, even though they hadn’t known each other for much time. The brunette was kneeling beside her.

“Th… that should… take care of… the enchantment…” Juvia said weakly.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Cana yelled at her and Juvia frowned a bit. Wasn’t she clear?

“Juvia just… wanted to…” Her throat was a little bit dry. “…make you all… accept her… as a true member… of Fairy Tail.” Some of the Mages there still were afraid of her or suspicious and that hurt Juvia. “Juvia loves you guys…”

Cana’s brown eyes watered and she yelled again: “Of Course you’re one of us! There was never any question about that!” She said. “You’re a brilliant Mage of Fairy Tail!”

“Juvia is glad.” She said before letting herself fall into unconsciousness. She faintly heard Cana call her name. She could rest then. It as nice to know that at least someone felt that she was worthy of being with Fairy Tail. From that day on, Cana was forever in Juvia’s heart.

He moved to her face once he got frustrated. She was punched a few times and she could taste the blood inside her mouth. She knew that her eye would get nasty. But just like during the rest of the beating, she tried her best to not make noise.

The Boss cleaned his forehead with the back of his hand. “I was right. You are a fighter.” He said angrily, an opposite of the happy tone he had before. “Usually by now the girls are begging for me to stop.” He pointed to the small cut on her lower lip. “Why don’t you fight back? I know you can if you want.”

Juvia just stared at him and after a moment, he let out a groan and punched her again with much more force than the other ones and she couldn’t hold the whimper that came out from her.

“That’s it for today!” The Boss said angrily. He grabbed her face roughly. “Do you see what you made me do?” He said squeezing her face. “But you look prettier now. I bet that whoever buys you will like my work.” The blonde man crashed his lips on hers. Juvia closed her mouth as much as she could so he couldn’t properly invade her mouth (no way that it was going to be a kiss). Once he separated himself from her, he smiled. “We still have a few days together, sweetheart. I look forward to it. And I hope I can control myself and let your buyer do the rest with you.”

He let go of her face and started to walk towards the chair to get his coat. As he put it, he turned to look at her, smiling wickedly at her now bruised body. “So beautiful. I wish I hadn’t a meeting. But you know… final preparations for the auction. But don’t worry; tomorrow I’ll make sure to meet you again. Your eyes are still too strong.” He opened the door. “Come in, Holar. Take our Fairy to the cell.”

“Yes, Boss.” Big Guy, Holar as the Boss called, waited for the blonde man to be gone before stepping in and look at Juvia. She knew that she still had her dress open and she should be feeling self-conscious, but now that the Boss was gone, she could only feel pain. She needed to lie down for a bit.

Juvia barely registered Holar take her handcuffs away from the hook. As soon as she could, she closed the dress. They left The Room and Juvia was never so happy to return to a cell in her life.

She was shoved inside it and when the guy was gone, Laura was by her side.

“Your face…” She said, touching it tenderly. “They don’t usually bruise the face. The Boss says that we need to be pretty for the auction.” Juvia was trying to do the buttons of her dress again, but her hands were trembling too much, so Laura helped. “You fought back, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Laura shook her head in disapproval. She had warned the blunette! “Did they…?”

“No.” Juvia whispered. “The Boss said…”

“Wait, The Boss did this to you?” Laura asked, surprised and when the blunette nodded, the blonde girl became even more worried. “I heard the guards saying that he can’t ‘handle’ the girls because he is too rough…”

Juvia tried to smile, but her face muscles were hurting too much. “This? Piece of cake, Laura-san.”

“You don’t need to put a mask here, Juvia.” The blonde girl finished with Juvia’s buttons. “We all were beaten in some point, so…” Laura looked towards the girls.

“Don’t worry.” Juvia said. “It’s nothing Juvia can’t handle.” She said loud enough so the girls could hear, but then lowered her voice to talk to Laura. “Juvia has a plan.”

“What?” Laura looked around and then scooped as closer as she could to Juvia. “What plan?”

“Later.” Juvia whispered. “It’s safer if they don’t know. Besides, Juvia needs more information. And she’ll probably need you.”

“I…” Laura didn’t know what to say. No one ever broke out of there.

“Help me?” Juvia asked, trying to get closer to a wall so she could lean on. Laura nodded and helped the blunette. “Thank you.” She murmured. And for a minute, there was silence, and then a girl started to sob in the other cell and Juvia’s heart sunk inside her chest. If these girls lost hope, they would be lost. She had to do something.

She had to remind them about the world outside.

“So, Laura… May Juvia tell you about the time when Juvia dress up as a princess for a carnival?” Laura looked puzzled. “It is a Fairy Tail thing. In Magnolia, every year we have sort of a Carnival. Seven years ago, Juvia dressed up as a princess for it.” She sighed. “But the best part of course was the prince…”

“A prince?” Juvia heard a small voice ask and she couldn’t identify who asked the question, but she answered looking towards the general direction. “Was he handsome?”

“Oh yes. The most handsome man in the world! But she’s all Juvia’s, so don’t get any ideas!” A giggle or two from the girls. “What’s a princess without her prince?” She said remembering fondly of that day.

So, Juvia started to tell them all she could remember about it. The fireworks, the way people looked at them with smiled on their faces. And for a few moments, they were all with her being princess that day.

She just hoped that her plan worked.

#

Gray was returning home for the night. A good fight with Natsu and Gajeel was all he needed to keep his mind out of his problems. He stopped by the canal and stared to the water. It was strange that now the first thing that came to his mind when he saw water was Juvia, instead of Ur and how she was still living out there.

It was a clue about himself that he wasn’t ready to face just yet. He would never forget Ur and her sacrifice, but she did ask him to keep living and in his gut, he was sure that his life was tangled with Juvia’s in some way.

Some strong way.

He just didn’t know what to do about it. He never had those feelings for someone before. When he was younger, he had a crush on Erza: she was the coolest girl he ever met. But as they grew up, he got over it and was well aware that she was in love with a certain blue-haired man. She was like an older sister now.

He thought Cana was hot when he hit his early teen years, but it was probably because she walked around half naked all the time. He also got over it; she was just a close friend.

Lucy was another one that when he met, he thought he was very pretty and nice. If he wasn’t so closed for feelings, he might’ve liked her more than just as a nakama. But he knew now that even though he could’ve felt something for her, it wasn’t meant to last as well. She was wonderful, but she wasn’t for him.

And when Juvia appeared, it was obvious to him that she was a pretty girl. So, the feeling was back and just like the others, he waited for it to fade away.

Except it didn’t.

In fact, he grew fonder and fonder of her. She was gloomy for others, while she sparkled for him. She was kind, fierce, sweet and a little bit crazy, if he was honest with himself. And a growing feeling was foreign for him. He usually dealt with the fading one. So he postponed whatever decision he had to make.

It was one of those times that he wanted someone to make a bloody decision for him so he didn’t have to do it himself.

Gray realized that he shuddered when a breeze passed and he thought it was strange; he didn’t feel cold. Yet, somehow, he knew it wasn’t related to the breeze.

He was feeling all sorts of bad feelings every time he thought of Juvia and that wasn’t right. He knew something wasn’t right. He passed a hand through his hair as he started to walk back to his place.

It wasn’t normal and he knew it. She needed him; he felt it.

He had no idea how he knew, but he did. In the morning he was going to ask Mirajane about Juvia’s mission. Gray hoped he was wrong. Gray prayed he was wrong.

#

“Laura-san…” Juvia whispered to the woman that was dozing off. “Please, don’t sleep yet. Could you tell Juvia what you know about this place?”

Laura nodded and yawned. “Yes. You said you had a plan?”

“Yes.” The blunette nodded. “But first you have to tell Juvia everything.” Laura nodded again. “We’ll need a third person, though. A person on the outside.” Juvia hissed in pain when she tried to move but her ribs hurt. “That… will be… difficult.” She took small breaths to try to ease the pain.

“I’ve been here longer than anyone else, Juvia.” Laura said with confidence. “If your plan sounds plausible, I’ll introduce you to someone. I don’t know if it’ll work, though.”

“Tell me what you know and we can think together.” Juvia smiled softly. “Let’s have hope and faith. If we unite, we will survive this.”

The blonde nodded and started telling everything she knew for the strange blue haired girl, who could took a beat from the sadist Boss and still tell a wonderful story about the carnival she dressed as a princess with the guy she was in love with as a prince to entertain the girls for a few minutes.

Laura Birdsong may need to have faith once again. And maybe her faith returned to her as the strange blue fairy in front of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The flashbacks were about not only Gray because even though Gray is a big part of her life, so is the rest of Fairy Tail. I just wanted to show this other side of her. I hope it’s not too OOC or Mary Sue-ish. I mean, this is the story about Juvia.


	4. Loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  “Far longer than forever  
> I'll hold you in my heart  
> It's almost like you're here with me  
> Although we're far apart”  
> The Swan Princess – Far Longer Than Forever  
> 

Gray had his backpack ready when he arrived at Fairy Tail the next morning. It had been two days since Juvia left and according to what he could gather, the mission was not that complicated for a mage her level. There were a few thugs vandalizing a small village and they were requesting help.  
  
Juvia could do it with her eyes closed and hands tied behind her back.  
  
Yet, there he was, ready to go after her in case she didn’t appear in the next few hours. The bad feeling was still there and he was going to the village after lunch. He probably was going to make a fool out of himself –Juvia was fine– but he was going anyway.  
  
“Good morning, Gray.” Mirajane said happily. “You arrived early today and with your backpack.” She frowned. “I thought you were taking the week off.”  
  
“Change of plans.” The Ice Mage shrugged. “Listen, Mira… Did you hear anything from Juvia?”  
  
“From Juvia?” Mirajane’s frown got deeper. “No. Why?”  
  
Gray looked around and saw that as it was too early in the morning, he was the first one to arrive. He could talk to her without the prying ears from his fellow guild mates. “I have this bad feeling when I think of her; like my gut is telling me that something’s off.”  
  
For once, Mira didn’t look like he was trying to tell the world that he was in love with Juvia without actually saying. Maybe it was the worry in his eyes; maybe it was the way he was talking. Whatever it was, the older woman took him seriously.  
  
“What’s off?”  
  
“That’s the thing… I don’t know.” He sighed in defeat, taking his backpack and putting on the ground next to his feet. “It started when she told me about the mission, and when she said good-bye… I don’t know. I felt sick, because even though it was an easy mission, it seemed like I wasn’t going to see her for a long time.”  
  
Mirajane nodded, taking in the information. “And you want to go after her.” She didn’t ask, he noticed.  
  
“If I don’t hear from her until after lunch, yes.” Gray said. “She should’ve come back yesterday. Juvia is good enough to take down a few magic-free vandals on her own like it was nothing.”  
  
It was Mira’s turn to become preoccupied. “Now that you mention it is unusual for her to overstay anywhere without inform any of us and you are right: the mission was easy enough.” She eyed Gray with a little curiosity. “And there’s your… gut feeling, sixth sense or whatever you want to call. It is known that when you feel closer to someone, sometimes you can feel when they are in danger.” Gray was about to say something, but Mira held her hand up. “I am not saying that she is in danger, Gray. I hope your gut is wrong. And I am not saying that you are head over heels for her, I am just saying that it’s a possible explanation for what you are feeling.”  
  
The Ice Mage was about to tell Mira that this ‘sixth sense’ thing was ridiculous, but a few of his comrades started to arrive at the Guild. So, he stopped himself. Instead, he grabbed his backpack. “If you hear anything…”  
  
“I’ll let you know.” Mira said kindly. “I am sure everything is alright though, Gray.” She tried to comfort him.  
  
“I hope you are right.” He mumbled and the Take Over Mage bit her lower lip in apprehension as she saw him go to a table on one of the corners of the Guild and look outside of the window, the one that could clearly see who was coming to Fairy Tail. Gray looked like he was really in pain with worry and she had only seen him like that a few times. Silently, Mira prayed that nothing happened to Juvia; otherwise she had no idea of how Gray would react.  
  


#

The Water Mage opened her eyes startled when the sound of something hitting the ground echoed through the walls of the dungeon she was being held in. She moaned in pain as she tried to get up; all of her body was sore, especially her ribs. She was sure that she had cracked a few.

She blinked a few times, trying to get used to the little light she and the girls had to look around. Once she managed to sit down, she saw that all the captive girls were asleep with the exception of her and Laura.

The blonde woman was chatting with someone outside the bars of their cell. Juvia had to blink a few more times to take a good look at whom Laura was speaking to.

It was a small woman, light brown hair and looked like a little mouse, afraid of her own shadow. But Juvia knew that looks could be deceiving.

“Laura?” Juvia whispered and the Harpia Wing’s Mage looked over her shoulder and made a movement with her hand, trying to make Juvia come closer to where she and the mousy girl were. After a little effort, Juvia stood up and limped her way to them. Once she was close enough, The Girl Outside The Bars looked even more like a mouse. Her dark brown eyes were wide in fear. “Hello.” Juvia said kindly and trying not to scare her.

“Rissa…” Laura whispered to the mousy little girl, regaining her attention. “Rissa, we need you.” Juvia gathered that the blond had already spoken with the girl, Rissa, that they had a plan.

“Laura…” The girl looked towards the door. She went to her knees and grabbed a brush and wet it on the bucket that Juvia didn’t even notice it was there (perhaps the sound of it hitting the ground was what had woken Juvia up?) while started to clean the floor. “They could hear us.”

“They are getting drunk for the past few hours and will pass out in a few.” The blonde woman said trying to wave the other woman’s worries off and also kneeled to stay in Rissa’s eye level. “As I was saying, we have a plan to save all of us.” Rissa looked skeptical. Laura pointed to the Water Mage beside her. “Juvia here is a mage from Fairy Tail and she guarantees that they will come to rescue her.”

The mousy brunette stared at the girl who was with Laura and frowned; she didn’t look special. “I heard that they got one from the Strongest Guild, but…”

“Rissa-san.” Juvia said quietly, trying to bit down a groan of pain as she also kneeled on the floor. “If Juvia could get a hold of someone of her guild, anyone, and give them a message they would come for us. All of us. They can save you too.”

“I’m… I’m with them.” Rissa whispered and Juvia felt bad for her. She was locked there without the need of the cells and that saddened her.

“No, you are not.” Laura said with certainty. “You are as captive as we are. I know what they do to you, Rissa.” Laura said kindly and the other girl shivered. Juvia knew what happened to the mousy girl because Laura had told her; she was never bought because she was ‘too skinny and didn’t have womanly charms’ as the Boss said, so, they kept her as a maid. And sometimes the guards would not treat her as a maid. It had been a year for Rissa. “We just need to get Juvia out for a few minutes so she can call Fairy Tail by Lachryma and…”

“What?” Rissa half-yelled in panic. “No way.”

“Rissa-san, if Juvia talks to them, they will come.” Juvia tried to reassure the girl. She knew that her friends would come to her rescue. The Water Mage had noticed the Lachryma on the corner of the Boss’ office while he was talking to the men that had kidnapped her. She knew that it was a long shot, but it was their only shot.

When Juvia told Laura that she needed to reach the Lachryma, the blonde woman thought that she was crazy and refused to take part on the plan. They had a heated whispering discussion where Laura would tell Juvia that she was crazy and that she was going to get caught.

The blunette changed her mind saying: “If you don’t want to do this for you, do it for them.” She waved towards the girls. “If Juvia gets caught, she’ll take all the blame. What’s the worst that can happen to them now? Get sold?” She said bitterly. “If we don’t do anything, they will be!” She took a deep breath. “They will come, Laura. I swear.”

After thinking for a long time, Laura agreed to it. It was their last chance. In two days, the auction would take place and then they would be totally helpless. She agreed to introduce Juvia to Rissa, then.

“I…” Rissa said, in doubt. Oh, how long has it been since she was free? That she had any hope of getting out. If what Laura and the new girl were saying was possible, she could get out. She hated that life. The past year had been a nightmare for her. “They will get us…”

“Not if we have you by our side.” Juvia said, grabbing the girl’s hand, but not too tightly. “And if they do, Juvia will take all the blame, don’t worry. She’ll tell you that she made you.”

Rissa looked at the strange woman. She talked in third person? That was so weird… The brunette could see that she took a beating: her lower lip was deeply cut and her left eye was swollen and had a nasty purple color and by the way that she sounded when she moved, the rest of her body was probably covered in bruises as well.

“How can you be sure that they will come?” Rissa whispered. “No one ever does.”

“You never came across a Fairy Tail mage, have you?” Juvia smiled kindly. “We don’t give up on our people.”

“RISSA!” One of the guards yelled, opening the door of the dungeon and the girl shrunk in fear, removing Juvia’s hand from hers. The man looked drunk, his balance was obviously affected. “Martov dropped his beer. Come and clean!” He turned and started to walk away.

She got up and went in the direction of the sound of his voice, but not without looking hesitantly to both Laura and Juvia. When she was gone, Juvia turned to the blonde woman.

“So… Do you think she’ll help us?” The blunette asked.

“Yes.” Laura was sure. “Rissa hates here. I’ve been here for three weeks and she talked to me a few times and she was always eager to get out, like we all are.” She said. “She’s just scared because she’s been here longer and needs to find her strength again. I think you gave her a little just now.” Laura said looking pleased to Juvia. She had no idea of what the Fairy Tail had in her to make people just believe in what she was saying.

Maybe it was because she believed in her friends to much that others would just feel it too.

“Juvia hopes you are right.”

They could only wait for the little girl. The problem was that the clock was ticking to the fourteen girls that were locked.

“Me too, Juvia.” Laura said and then helped the Water Mage up. “Come on, you need to rest a little more to heal. And if… no, when Rissa comes you need to be in your best shape to keep up with her. Having you limping your way to the Boss’ office is hardly a good idea.”

Juvia nodded and let the blonde woman return her to the spot she was when she woke up a few minutes before. “Thanks, Laura.” The other girl smiled and went to her own sleeping space.

Closing her eyes, Juvia didn’t sleep. Instead, she started to think about her friends. Did they receive the letter yet? Would they be sad? Would they question it?

She kicked herself mentally: of course they would. She knew they would do anything to get her back if it was the slightest possibility of her to be alright, she knew. Juvia knew that the uncertainty thoughts were because she was panicking a little and because she was in pain, not because she didn’t trust them.

They would come for her. For them.

#

Gray was getting restless. No sign of Juvia anywhere and it was about lunch time. His gut was twisting; screaming that he had to leave at that very moment, every second he stayed at the Guild was a waste of time.

“Mail!” A small bold man entered Fairy Tail and went straight to where Mirajane was, giving her many letters that consisted mostly of missions.

“Thank you, Wesley.” She smiled kindly to the man, who left the Guild with hearts instead of eyes muttering ‘I love my job’.

Mirajane started to sort the mail, missions in one pile, letters to Master (mostly with bills from missions the Fairy Tail members took and destroyed something) and letters to her guild mates.

She was humming a song when a letter came into view. It had a black stripe on the envelope and all her body went rigid with the sight of it; those kind of envelop were mostly used to tell about someone’s demise.

Gray’s voice about how he had a bad feeling about Juvia echoed through her mind. And she quickly opened the letter, even though Master should be the one to do it. She had to know.

Once she started to read the letter, she let a hand cover her mouth as the words started to sink in. Her gray eyes started to water as she continued the reading.

“Mira?” Erza asked concerned and many of the guild members looked in their direction once they heard a sob coming from the white haired woman. “Mira, what is it?” The Titania stepped closer to her and Mirajane showed the letter to Erza.

Her face immediately went serious and her whole body was rigid as she read the letter. “This…”

Sensing the change of the mood in the air, Gray returned from his thoughts and looked around. His friends were staring at a crying Mira and a stoic Erza confused of what was happening.

He knew it was about Juvia.

Later Gray didn’t even remember getting up and stepping towards the girls. He didn’t even remember snatching the letter from Erza’s hands (much to everyone’s surprise: one simply does not snatch anything from Erza). What he would remember until the say he died were the words. He would remember was the horrible feeling that washed over him with each word.

“To Fairy Tail;

I am sorry to inform you that after a series of unfortunate events, the mage that presented herself as Juvia Lockser from Fairy Tail, died in mission.

The people from Flores send their grief for…”

Gray stopped reading the consolation words. The letter fell on the floor as he looked down to the floor, the pain in his stomach unbearable.

He had lost her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Gray. T_T But yay for the plan! Let’s just hope it works, right?


	5. I Gotta Find You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Far longer than forever  
> I swear that I’ll be true  
> I've made an everlasting vow  
> To find a way to you”  
> The Swan Princess – Far Longer Than Forever  
> 

He had to get out of there. He needed to go outside.  
  
Gray walked passed his friends, most of them had no idea of what was going on but had a bad feeling by Mira’s and Gray’s reaction towards the letter. Erza was following Gray in a second; she had a stern look on her face as she rushed to follow the Ice Mage.  
  
Once he was outside, Gray leaned and put his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths. He was in pain. That letter had opened a lock that was in his heart for a long time. He had felt that way a few times during his life: when he lost his parents, when he lost Ur. He had locked away that awful feeling of utter loss, of not knowing what to do with himself from that moment on.  
  
It hurt.  
  
The mere thought of Juvia… It hurt him so much he needed to let it out.  
  
Gray couldn’t help the growl of anger that came out of him; neither did care to stop it. His hands now in fists while he started to carelessly freeze everything outside the guild: the chairs, table, even the swimming pool. It was irrational for an Ice Mage but he was boiling inside and had to let it out.  
  
When there was nothing else in sight to freeze, he started to use his magic to make random weapons and after he finished, he tossed them aside breaking them in the process. Within his fury he forgot what Ur taught him about using two hands to make the ice stronger. Gray just had to break things.  
  
Erza was staring from the Guild’s door while her friend yelled with anger as he threw another weapon on the ground, smashing it. She wanted to go to him, but couldn’t. Not at that moment. He needed to clear his head and the men of the guild were never too good with just thinking to cool down.  
  
“What the hell…?” Natsu said beside the Titania while he saw the Guild’s backyard all white with ice while Gray yelled and smashed his own creations into oblivion once he made them.  
  
“Give him a minute to think, Natsu.” Titania said as she put an arm in front of Natsu when the pink haired man tried to step into the backyard. “He needs it.”  
  
“What’s going on, Erza?” Natsu asked seriously, still looking as Gray smashed yet another sword of plenty.  
  
“The letter.” The woman said. “It said that Juvia is dead.”  
  
Natsu understood Gray’s reaction then. Even he was aware that things were different between those two but now seeing Gray’s outburst, he realized that it was deeper than he thought it was. The words finally sank into his mind as he turned to Erza.  
  
“She’s what?”  
  
“It’s strange.” Titania was staring as Gray breathed hard from his spot surrounded by Ice. “Juvia is too strong to have fallen with a mission that is not even S-Class.”  
  
“Of course she is!” Gray yelled and Natsu, like Erza, stared at the Ice Mage’s back. They noticed that his hands were shaking. “The mission was stupid; she could’ve done it in a heartbeat. She’s alive. I know it.”  
  
“Then why are you freezing the backyard for?” Natsu asked truly confused. If Gray thought Juvia was still alive, then why he was throwing such a fit? Shouldn’t he be getting ready to look for the Water Mage?  
  
“Because, Natsu” Gray turned around, his eyes burning with anger and pain. “If someone sent that letter to tell us that she is dead out of the goodness of their hearts, it tells us that she is at least hurt somewhere without their knowledge. It means that she is incapable of contact us and that is about the woman who crawled her way to us when Zeref got away. It means that she’s out there alone! And if that letter is ill willed, it’s even worse! Can you see now why I am freezing the damn backyard?!”  
  
Natsu seemed a little confused with his reaction. He knew that if it was him (like already happen a few times with Lucy) he would go after her without a second’s thought. He would barge in whatever place he thought she was being held to break her free.  
  
Erza, on the other hand, understood Gray’s reasons. He just faced the possibility of losing someone he didn’t realize it mattered that much for him. She knew he have been developing stronger feelings for Juvia and it grew even more during the games and the dragons’ attacks back in Crocus. And Gray was forced to face the possibility of Juvia dying before he could understand his feelings at the same time he understood that she was at least hurt. It was too many emotions for just a small window of time; and Gray wanted to stay away from deeper emotions as much as he could.  
  
“Master! Mira-nee! …Juvia…!” Gray, Erza and Natsu heard Lisanna yell. Without thinking anything else, Gray ran inside the Guild.  
  


#

Juvia was sitting on the cell, looking to the small crack on the ceiling where a small ray of sunlight could be seen. She closed her eyes for a moment, to let herself remember the feeling of in on her skin. How nice the first morning sunlight was so tender and warm.

A flash of Gray’s face looking up to the sky when they first met passed through her mind and she felt the urge to cry. She wasn’t sad of joining Fairy Tail, never. She just wanted to see him like that again. One more time would be nice. If she had known that she was going to be held captive, she would’ve said her feelings to him. She would’ve confessed her love.

She also would’ve hug all of her friends and tell how much she loved them. She would’ve thanked Master Makarov deeply for giving her a chance. She would’ve told Gajeel that he was her best friend in the whole world. She would’ve swept Asuka from the floor and showered the little girl with kisses and told her to grow beautiful, kind and strong like her parents.

Absent minded, Juvia’s hand was above her left leg where her guild mark was. She had so many wonderful memories, she had such wonderful friends. Juvia lived the best she could, that she was sure. She just wanted more time.

“Juvia…” Laura whispered to gain the Water Mage’s attention. Juvia opened her eyes, just to see Laura’s face a few inches away from her own. “Rissa is here.”

“Will she help us?” Juvia whispered without moving. It was better not to alarm the girls.

“Let’s talk to her.” Laura said and helped Juvia get up and walk towards the bars, where the mousy brunette was, looking to one side to another, scared. Juvia noticed how she was now with her hair disheveled and with a few bruises on her neck. She was definitely almost strangled.

“Rissa-san.” Juvia whispered. “Oh, god. Are you…?”

“I am fine.” Her brown eyes were cold and distant, but also determined. “Are you sure your friends will come?”

“Yes.” Juvia didn’t hesitate. “They will.” Rissa stared at Juvia with analytical eyes, measuring the Fairy Tail Mage. Thinking if it was worth to help or be content with her future. “They will come for all of us.”

Rissa nodded. “Then let’s go.” She took a key from her pocket and both Juvia and Laura looked surprised.

“Right now?” Laura asked. “What about the guards?”

“Drank until they couldn’t anymore and then passed out.” The mousy girl started to open the lock while the other prisoners looked with curiosity to them. “The Boss went to the town, but he’ll be here in no time. If we are going to do this, we need to go now.” Rissa said with a decided tone, opening the gate so Juvia could follow her.

“Let’s go, then.” The Water Mage said standing now without the help of Laura.

“Just be quiet until we get into the Boss’ room.” Rissa said closing the gate again and smiled apologetically to Laura, who understood that she had to close it. “I think we have fifteen minutes.”

“That will do.” Juvia said and started to limp away. The small brunette girl frowned, but the Water Mage waved off her worries. “I’m fine. Let’s do this.”

“Good luck.” Laura said and watched until both of them were out of her sight. She looked to the girls and tried to calm them down and explain without many words what Juvia was doing.

#

Everyone from Fairy Tail was quiet inside the Guild. Master had taken the letter and he had let out the deadliest aura he could. The only sounds were coming from outside and they were from Gray; the utter sound of rage, heartbreak and hurting.

“She’s…” Lucy started after a few minutes. “We are going after her, right?”

“Of course we will.” Master said. “I do not believe a word that letter said.”

“Sorry about my reaction…” Mirajane was drying her tears. “Gray told me earlier that he had a bad feeling, I got too emotional.”

“Don’t worry, Mira-nee.” Her sister, Lisanna, hugged the older woman. “I think I would’ve got the same reaction as you.” All of the guild members present went silence as they heard Gray yell something at Natsu and then from far, the Lachryma started to make a sound. Lisanna let her sister go. “I’ll get that.”

She left to the room where Fairy Tail’s Lachryma was and answered not too excited. They had a crisis on their hands.

“You called Fairy Ta…” The girl stopped mid-sentence when she saw who was calling. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was Juvia who was calling! But the happiness soon changed into worry once she saw the state Juvia was in. “Juvia? Oh, god… A letter just came saying you were dead! What happened to you?”

“Lisanna-san!” Juvia said with hurry and Lisanna shut up for a moment to listen to the Water Mage. “I don’t have much time. Juvia was kidnapped.”

“What?” The white haired girl was surprised. “Master! Mira-nee! It’s Juvia! She’s calling!”

She could hear the fast steps coming towards them.

“Lisanna-san, listen to me! Juvia doesn’t have much time.” Before she could say another word, Master Makarov and Mirajane were by Lisanna’s side, and the other guild member that were there were by the door, all gasped when they looked at Juvia’s image. Once she located Makarov, Juvia sighed in relief “Master! Juvia needs help!”

“Who did this to you?” Makarov asked with his face dark with anger. One of his children was hurt and he hated it feeling powerless.

“Juvia doesn’t know.” The girl shook her head. “She doesn’t even know where she is.” The blunette said, looking to the tiny man. “We’re still in Fiore, but no other girl knows where.”

“Other girl? What on earth’s name is going on?” Makarov asked now confused. He wanted to help her, but it was difficult to understand what was going on.

“They, whoever they are… they are going to sell us.” Juvia said and took a moment for the words to sink into their minds, because everyone who could hear her yelled:

“What?”

“They get girls from small guilds, send messages that they died and then sell them.” Juvia said as quickly as she could, apparently. “The next auction is in two days and apparently, since Juvia’s from Fairy Tail, she’s going to be the main attraction and…”

“Hey, let me pass!” Juvia’s eyes lit up once she heard a much known voice to her and she called the owner of it.

“Gray-sama!”

“Juvia!” Gray pushed the people in front of him aside, his heart cartwheeling inside his chest. She was alive. She was alive! He could go get her and he would… He pushed Mira out of the way and when he saw her image he was surprised, then worried. Then angry. Very angry. Her hair was a mess and her lower lip had a deep cut, but what surprised him more was the black eye she had; her left eye was dark purple, making contrast against her white skin. He stood looking at her in shock for a moment before talking again. “Where are you? Who did this?”

“Listen to me, Gray-sama. If you don’t find Juvia in time, I need you to know…” She leaned over the Lachryma and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She put her hands on it and they could see the handcuffs she was wearing. “I love you. Now and always. Nothing will ever change that.”

“Don’t find you? What’s going on?” Gray pretended that he didn’t hear the confession. He didn’t want it. Not like this.

“Juvia-san, hurry up.” Someone off-screen from Juvia’s side said and the blunette nodded, turning her eyes towards the unseen person and then back to the Lachryma.

“There are runes around the place so no female can do magic. There are about 20 guards and fifteen girls that will need medical attention. The auction is in two days.” Juvia cut off everyone who tried to ask her something. “That’s all I know. Oh! And we are close to the sea; Juvia smelled it in the guards. We think that they ship some of the girls to other countries.” She looked over her shoulder and then whispered. “Juvia won’t escape without the girls. If you don’t find us, it’s…”

“We’re going to find you.” Gray grabbed the Lachryma as if he could grab her. No, no, no. That wasn’t happening. He was not going to lose her again that day, no! “I am going to find you, Juvia!”

“Juvia loves Fairy Tail. She regrets nothing.” The Water Mage said looking to the other people as if she was trying to carve their faces into her mind and then to Gray. She smiled to him, that same smile she gave him before she left two days before. “Thank you for bringing the sun into Juvia’s life, Gray-sama.”

“Don’t talk like we’re never speaking ag…” Gray started to say, but she cut him.

“I love you.” She said and the Lachryma went dead.

No one in the room said a word as Gray yelled: “Juvia!”, but she was gone.

His hands didn’t leave the Lachryma, neither did his eyes. He was still trying to understand what had just happened there. The urge to break things, preferably the neck of the person who left the marks on Juvia’s body, returned but he needed to concentrate. He had promised to find her.

And Gray Fullbuster did not break his word.

He let out a breath, have another tantrum wouldn’t help Juvia. He turned to the other people inside the room. “Tell me everything she said.”

#

Juvia safely returned to the prison cell. She nodded to Laura, who smiled to the Fairy Tail Mage. They had done it! Help was on the way, the blonde mage could tell by the way Juvia smiled.

“How was it?” Laura asked.

“Your information helped a lot. Juvia doesn’t know how they will find us, but she knows they will.” The blunette said and then turned to the mousy girl. “What changed your mind?” Juvia asked Rissa as the girl opened the gate once again but this time the blunette had to step inside.”

“I almost died today.” The girl touched her bruised neck. “And the possibility of being free again is not too bad. I don’t think there’s a stronger feeling than that.”

“Once we are out, come to Fairy Tail, Rissa. We would like to have you there.” Juvia smiled. “You are stronger than you think you are.”

Once Juvia was inside the cell, Rissa closed the gate with the key. She hesitated to leave.

“The Boss will be returning in an hour or so.” The brunette said, suddenly feeling compelled to warn the other girl. “He told the guards that he wanted to have time with you. He said that he enjoyed you. This is never good.”

Juvia’s smile dropped. “Yes. He told me that he wanted to yesterday. Don’t worry, Rissa-san. Juvia is tougher than she looks. And she’s stronger now that she warned her friends. They will find a way to me. To us.”

“I honestly hope you are right, Juvia-san.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that the Lachryma scene was a little sad. Both of them grabbing the Lachryma at the same time because they couldn’t hold each other… I don’t know. But at least FT knows what happened.  
> BTW, I hope Gray wasn’t too OOC with his outburst in the beginning of the chapter. I think he would react that way.  
> 


	6. Always Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  “For longer than forever  
> Like no love ever known  
> And with your love  
> I'll never be alone”  
> The Swan Princess – Far Longer Than Forever

She was going to get sold. Gray was restless, walking around the guild; he knew that his friends were looking at him wary of what he might do but he didn’t care about them at that point. His only thought was to get Juvia back.  
  
They could only see her face on the Lachryma, so only the gods know if she was more hurt than they thought. Juvia was tough, she could take whatever shit they threw at her, but she had a weakness: other people. If she thought that not fighting back would save others, she would take and stay. She even said that she wouldn’t leave without the other girls.  
  
The stupid wonderful woman.  
  
Gray was feeling so angry and helpless. Master was using the Lachryma talking to a few of his friends to see if they knew how to locate a missing mage that couldn’t perform magic but no one knew about it. Levy was researching on the guild’s library but Gray was getting more and more frustrated. Why didn’t he accept to go with her to the mission? All of that could’ve been avoided.  
  
"Gray, calm down." Erza said. Apparently, without noticing, Gray started to cool the air around him. His head snapped to her direction.  
  
"I will calm down as soon as I bring Juvia back safe and sound and I beat the crap out of whoever has her! And that's if she's alright. If they do something else to her, I'll kill those bastards." Gray growled as he made a random ice shape on his hand, just to break it. “Can’t Natsu just smell her?”  
  
“It’s the third day since she left. My nose is good, but not that good.” Natsu said, his arms crossed above his chest watching Gray’s movements. The Dragon Slayer would never admit to anyone, but he was concerned about Gray’s reactions. Juvia meant more to him that what he let appear and lose her (not that he would, they would find Juvia!) would make the guy go cuckoo.  
  
“The sun is setting, Levy has been searching for a spell the whole afternoon and Master has no idea about how track Juvia down.” Gray passed a hand through his hair and then started to remove his shirt. “We should be out there, trying to get leads…”  
  
“Think, Gray.” Erza said. “You know that separating and search for something that is probably not even there anymore is pointless. We need to act with our heads; this situation is too delicate to just run around hoping to get leads.”  
  
“I know, I know.” Gray passed a hand over his face and then started to pace. “What if I don’t get her in time? I can’t lose her, Erza.” He looked pointedly at the red haired woman and she understood. They, once, had talked about Juvia’s feelings for him and that he needed to make his known. At the time, he was unsure of what he felt towards the Water Mage, but at that moment, he understood. He couldn’t lose her. “Not now…”  
  
“We will get her, Gray.” Erza stepped closer to her friend and put a hand on his shoulder. “Just make sure that once we do, you start to be honest with yourself, okay?”  
  
“Yeah…” The Ice Mage nodded and started to pace around the guild once again. Hoping and praying that they would get her in time. There was two days left. “Where’s Gajeel?” He noticed the absence of the Iron Dragon Slayer. If he had been at the guild when Juvia had called, he would’ve made a big fuss about it. He and Juvia were best friends.  
  
“Master sent Jet to get him. He went on a mission yesterday and you know that if he wasn’t notified about the situation, he would get pissed off.” Erza informed him and Gray nodded.  
  
The bond between Gajeel and Juvia was strong and downright weird, but it was nice for them to have someone to hold on to. They have been together even before they joined Fairy Tail. Of course that now both had new bonds, but thankfully their friendship never got affected for it; if something, it got stronger.  
  
Gray wanted to bring Juvia back to their Guild, their home, their friends. And call him selfish, but he wanted to bring her back to him.  
  


#

Later that afternoon, Juvia was taken once again to the room, where she was beaten the day before. Boss was already there when Holar put her in the same position she was before. After putting her arms up onto the hook that came from the ceiling, the big man left, leaving Juvia and the Boss alone.

“You look prettier today, my little Fairy.” Boss said with a creepy smile on his face, his arms crossed over his chest. “The swollen lip looks beautiful on you and the black eye... Oh, my. I knew that I wouldn’t be wasting my money when I bought this for you.” He pull put a small glass with a green liquid inside and Juvia narrowed her eyes. “Oh, do you want to know what this is?

“You remember Zeref, don’t you? I heard that the people from your guild have a history with him.” The man chuckled. “Fairy Tail sure is something, isn’t it? The man has been dead for hundreds of years, yet there he was, in an island with you people. Did you see him with your own eyes? Did you?” Juvia shuddered as she remembered how scared she felt when she met the Dark Mage.

When the man, Zancrow as Meredy called him, came and started to badmouth Ultear to the little girl, Juvia wanted him to just shut up because the girl obviously had a deep bond with the woman she assumed was the dark haired one she left fighting Gray-sama. And that man looked like he was quite strong and neither her nor Meredy were in condition of fighting. And he had the person both Juvia and Meredy were trying to get custody of.

Zeref.

The dark mage himself was there. The man, who created so many monsters, spells and brought misery for other people; he was alive.

“Wait… Zeref is Ultear’s future!” Meredy stopped for a moment and said in a lower voice “My future.” Juvia was powerless. Her magical power was below zero at that point. She couldn’t do a thing without killing herself in the process. Her mind was racing; trying to think of some plan, any plan, but the blond man looked too powerful.

“So naïve... ” Zancrow smiled towards Meredy. “How long are you going to keep spouting that crap?”

“Ultear promised…” Meredy whined, looking like a child she actually was, instead of the polite serious young woman Juvia met few hours before. “If I can make it to the Great World of Magic, my town can go back to how it used to be…”

“But the one who destroyed that town was Ultear-san!” Zancrow seemed to enjoy himself very much saying this.

The look on Meredy’s face was of shock and incredulity. “That is… a lie…” Juvia heard her, but she seemed to be talking to herself than anyone else.

Juvia hated it. She hated the way the man from Grimoire Heart started to laugh like he was having the time of his life while a young girl’s heart was being ripped apart. The Water Mage wished she had her full power to take the grin off his face.

At that time, all they could hear were the laughs and the heavy rain. None of them realized that Zeref was awake until he spoke, barely a whisper: “Acnologia.”

“Ah?” Zancrow looked to Zeref in confusion. From where Juvia was, she could see the abnormal eyes the black haired man had. She froze in fear with that look. “Eh?” It was all Zancrow was able to say before it happened.

The wave of power he sent was overwhelming.

His magic was terrifying.

Dark.

Powerful.

Deadly.

His magic was beautiful.

So beautifully deadly and unique, like Juvia never thought anything could be. She couldn’t look away while happened; she was hypnotized by it and she couldn’t take that much power being released. She passed out.

#

Juvia opened her eyes and found herself alone in the woods. She was confused for a moment before realize what happened to her. With some difficulty, she sat and looked around.

Meredy was no longer there (Juvia hoped that the young girl found her beloved one) but the body of Zancrow was still in place. After witnessed what happened, she had no doubt the man was dead.

Juvia heard nothing around her, so she assumed she was safe for the time being, but still had her guard up. She saw that Zeref could kill without break a sweat. She thought she was going to die when it all went black.

The fact was: Zeref could’ve killed her the moment he wanted to. He could do it anytime and pretty much nothing she would do was going to stop him. She had no idea why he let her alive. Was it to pass some message for Fairy Tail?

Juvia’s eyes widened. She needed to tell everyone about Zeref!

The Boss was looking at Juvia’s face, collecting her expressions. He saw fear pass on her eyes as he started laughing, snapping her out of her own thoughts. “You did! You met him and he scared you!” Boss laughed even harder. “At least something can make my little Fairy feel fear.” The Boss grabbed Juvia’s jaw with a hand and whispered. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you looked? Your fearful eyes, the way you clenched your jaw…” He leant on to her and once again joined their lips. He tried to make her open her mouth for him, but she didn’t let him.

Juvia didn’t even saw the punch coming, but she sure felt the pain on the left side of her jaw. A few tears came out when he repeated the movement on the right side of her face. She did not plead to stop, though.

“You frustrate me, Juvia!” The Boss said grabbing her face once again; he stared at her eyes filled with tears that she did not want to shed and gave a wicked smile. “Crying is not a bad thing… I enjoy it, actually.” He caressed her cheek as she tried her best to move away from his touch. “I see… Today you don’t tolerate me touching you.” He sighed. “At least I’ll have you for longer than your stay in here.” Juvia frowned in confusion and the Boss showed the glass with the liquid again. “I will let the effects of it be a surprise for you. Now, open up.” He looked to her mouth as Juvia stubbornly kept her mouth closed as much as she could.

“Don’t make me…” Boss said, trying to give the liquid to her. He let out a noise of frustration when she didn’t comply with his wish. He, then, grabbed her jaw once again and forced her mouth open and as soon as she did, he slipped the liquid inside her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but the Boss put a hand over her mouth and nose, so she had no other choice than swallowed it.

Once he was sure that she had ingested it, the Boss let her go and gave two steps back, laughing as Juvia coughed. It tasted so bad. “I can’t say that things with you are not intense.”

“What… what did you give Juvia?” The Water Mage asked in a whisper as the liquid started to take effect almost immediately.

“And ruin the surprise?” The Boss made a noise with his tongue. “No, no, no. I just wish I could see your expression once it takes effect.”

“Why do you do this?” The girl asked, eyes starting to water. Whatever he gave it to her was burning her inside out; the pain that it was consuming her at the moment was so intense that her body was starting to convulse.

“Because of things like that…” He said with a happy glee in his eyes as tears came out from Juvia’s eyes. “I like to see… pain.”

“You are crazy.” Juvia said between breaths, as she tried to bear the burning inside her. When she thought that it was over, another wave of pain, worse than the previous one would hit her. She had no idea of how long it happened, but to her it lasted forever,

“That I am, darling.” The Boss said, watching Juvia. “That. I. Am.”

Juvia tried her best to fight it, she tried her best to ignore it, but she couldn’t shield herself from her own body and whatever the bastard had given her, it was downright evil and strong. If Zeref was somehow involved in it, the situation had gotten worse. Much worse than she had anticipated.

The Water Mage’s leg gave out when a particularly strong wave of pain hit her and she was being held up only by the handcuffs. Her vision was blurry; she was feeling nauseated and weak.

“Quite a show.” Boss said with awe in his voice. “I didn’t waste my money at all, given the show you just did for me, my little Fairy. That was… memorable.”

The girl let her head fall to the side when the man started to open her dress again. Juvia wanted to fight him, to kick, to punch, to do anything to prevent him to touch her, but she never felt so powerless in her life.

There she was: being kept captive in a dungeon, without her magic in a place she had no idea where it was. Even when things looked the worse, even when she almost died back in Tenroujima, she still had her friends by her side.

‘We’re going to find you. I am going to find you, Juvia!’ Gray had said earlier that day during their talk by Lachryma and Juvia could see the honesty in his eyes: he would try his best to find her. She wasn’t alone; her friends were just not physically close. But inside her head, she could hear and see them as clearly as possible.

‘Don’t give up, Juvia!’ Lucy said with a determinate look on her eyes.

‘Get fired up! We are going to get you!’ Natsu said and the blue haired girl could see his toothy grin.

‘Ju-chan! We are doing our best to find you.’ It was Levy’s turn to talk.

‘We are going to kick ass so you can come back to us!’ Cana said, winking at Juvia.

‘We are going to bring you home, Juvia.’ Mirajane’s sweet voice echoed through her mind.

‘We’ll never give up.’ Erza said, her armor shining.

‘As a man, I will help bring you back!’ Elfman yelled and growled like the man he was, and Juvia giggled.

‘Just hang on, Juvia. We will come.” Lisanna said with a soft smile.

‘I won’t allow any other child of mine to get hurt.’ Makarov told her.

‘Why did you get captured, baka? Now I have to go get you and kick your ass for being stupid!’ Gajeel groaned in annoyance.

‘I will get you back, Juvia. I promise.’ Her Gray-sama said, a sweet look on his eyes, a look that he had offered her a few times but never ceased to make her heart to cartwheel inside her chest.

Whatever the Boss was doing, Juvia blocked it out. She was thinking about her friends and now that they knew she was in danger, she could hope to get rescued. She would always hope, because, as her mind was telling her: they wouldn’t give up. And neither was she.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… what do you think he gave her? :O And Juvia is so strong. T_T When will I stop making her suffer? Bad Bonney. Baaaaad Bonney. :’(


	7. A Flower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  “You know the closer you get to something, the tougher is to see it and I’ll never take you for granted, let’s go.”  
> Joe Inoue – Closer

"Be careful." Gray was standing in front of the water mage, who had a confused expression on her face.  
  
Juvia tilted her hand to the side, looking confused by his actions "Juvia always is."  
  
She was so pretty, the Ice Mage thought. And she was just in front of him, close enough so he could touch her. Gray raised a hand to touch Juvia’s cheek, when the girl gave two steps back. He stared at her, confused.  
  
The Water Mage looked at Gray, then down to her stomach. “Juvia doesn’t feel so good.” The girl looked up towards him again, and her face was bruised and bleeding.  
  
Gray stepped closer to the woman just in time to catch her as the blunette was falling. As softly as he could, Gray put a hand on her cheek.  
  
“Juvia? Juvia!” She just groaned, as if in pain. The Ice Mage, then, put a hand on Juvia’s stomach without really think about it and was confused when he felt her dress moist. He looked down to her deep blue dress just to find a darker spot on it; lifting his hand, he could see that the palm of his hand was covered in, what seemed, blood.  
  
“Ho-Hold on, Juvia!”  
  
“Juvia loves you, Gray-sama.” The girl put a hand on his cheek and smiled, just before taking a deep breath, the smile disappearing as the hand fell down; her once sparkly blue eyes, lifeless, always haunting him.  
  
Gray opened his eyes and almost fell from the chair he was previously resting. The Ice Mage quickly scanned where he was with his eyes and sighed in relief when he realized he just had a nightmare, and even though the girl from his dream wasn’t there, she was still alive and they were going to find her.  
  
The sun was coming up when he fell asleep and when he looked to the clock, Gray learned that he just slept for fifteen minutes, max.  
  
During the whole night he had been restless, walking around the guild, waiting for Master to find an old friend who knew how to track down a lost mage or to Levy to find something in an old book, and so far, nothing.  
  
They were running out of time! The next day was when Juvia told them the auction would take place.  
  
Gray passed a hand over his face; how can a person be so sick to get to a point of selling people? How on earth could anyone sleep after selling a girl to some sadist from another country? Because Gray knew that a person, who buys someone, is not to make the ‘someone’ bake a few cookies.  
  
And Juvia was with them. Sweet, caring and loving Juvia.  
  
“This week sucks.” Gray murmured to himself, feeling exhausted. He should’ve seen something was wrong the moment the bad feeling hit him; his gut knew what it was doing.  
  
The guilty feeling was killing the Ice Mage. Juvia had asked him to go with her on the mission and he refused. If he had said yes, probably none of it would’ve happened. Juvia would be safe in Fairy Tail with him, with their family.  
  
“Th-there’s a spell!” Levy’s voice echoed through the Guild and Gray was on his feet immediately, just like everyone else who was awake.  
  
“What Spell?” Master Makarov asked, beside the petite blunette. Lucy and Levy had been going through books during the night, trying to find something that could help them track Juvia down, since the girl didn’t give much information about her whereabouts, just that it was a city close to the sea.  
  
“This one.” The blunette showed to the older man. “It has to be performed by the Guild’s Master, and it’ll take a lot of power to do so, because you’ll track down her guild mark. It’s not an easy task.”  
  
“And how accurate is it?” Mirajane asked, standing by Makarov’s side.  
  
“It says that we can get a location from a map. Maybe we can get a town.” Levy said. “I know it’s not the best, but…”  
  
“It’s good enough.” Makarov said. “If we know which town she’s in, we can find her. We have been worse than this.”  
  
“Guys, guys wait.” Erza got everyone’s attention. “Juvia said that no woman could do magic. Isn’t it worrisome? What if the spell can’t reach her because of it?”  
  
“We’re still going to try.” Gray said angrily. “We are going to try everything we can to get her back.”  
  
The other Fairy Tail member stared at each other; they never saw Gray like that, sure, when any of his friends got hurt, he got angry, but that time he was out of his mind.  
  
“We will, Gray.” Erza talked as calmly as she could; the Titania knew that he was just worried. “It’s just…”  
  
“Don’t worry.” Makarov grabbed the book Levy was holding, so he could read what it was needed for the spell. “Juvia said that the girls couldn’t do magic. The stamp of Fairy Tail and any other guild has magic of its own and I am confident that we will succeed.”  
  
“What do you need, Master?” Lisanna asked.  
  
“Just something of Juvia’s, a map of Fiore” The tiny old man said looking up from the book. “and an empty room so I can perform it. This will make me weak, to summon the power of a stamp is hard, the book says. Although it does have magic, it’s hard to locate it exactly.”  
  
“I have something of hers.” Gray said, turning around and running to where he left his backpack. After a few seconds of search, the Ice Mage found what he was looking and returned, holding a small broche of a pink flower, giving it to the master. “She lost it during the fight with Lyon and Shelia. I found it later, when we won, and before I could return it, there was that whole situation with Sting,” Gray blushed a little when the girls snickered. “Then the dragons… I forgot to give it back to her. Oh, shut up all of you.”  
  
“We didn’t say a thing.” Mirajane said happily.  
  
“It’s funny that it’s been a month since the games and you still forget to give it to her.” Lisanna giggled, soon joined by Lucy and Levy.  
  
“This will do, Gray.” Makarov said with a smile on his face. At least for a few moments, things were right in Fairy Tail. “Erza, could you grab the map of Fiore from my room? I’ll go to the infirmary.” The master took the book with him while the red haired woman rushed to do what he told her to. “I will perform it as soon as Erza returns with the map. When I give you the location, I probably won’t go with you, so…” He pointed to his grandson, who was not far away and very much awake. “Laxus, you lead them. I want Juvia back and the other girls released. Try to get the bastard who runs the operation. If he’s not there, the underlings will tell where he is.  
  
“Gray…” Makarov turned to look to the younger mage. “Keep your head cool.” The old man’s stare was fierce. “We know what this means to you, but if you lose your temper, you might regret, so… keep it together. I need all of you thinking straight. Got it?” All of the members were now awaken and they nodded in agreement as Erza walked in with a map in hands, giving it to Makarov. “Now, let me find out where Juvia is and you can go get her.”  
  


#

The Water Mage woke up later back in the cell, head hurting like she had pounded over and over on a wall; which the Boss could’ve done as far as Juvia knew, she didn’t remember much of what happened after a few minutes of drinking the potion. It was all kind of a blur; whatever that SOB gave her, it made all of her body to hurt and her mind to get fuzzy.

Juvia tried her best to feel her whole body and gather all her wounds and was relieved when learned that, even if she had been beaten, she wasn’t raped. Not yet, anyways. The next day, anything could happen and truly, she was terrified of it. The Boss was clearly holding not to do it.

“Juvia?” Laura said when Juvia opened her eyes. “You were unconscious when you were brought here, and didn’t stir the whole night. I thought…”

“Juvia is fine, thank you.” The blunette smiled softly; “Just a headache. A very strong headache.”

“What happened?”

“The boss… He gave me something.” The water mage started to rub her temples, trying to ease the throbbing. “It hurt a lot, then he… his hands.” The blunette closed her eyes in disgust. “Juvia wasn’t raped, but… I think he has something planned for today.”

Laura visibly paled. “We… get beaten up a lot, the men get a little handy, but they don’t rape the girls. I think that they let the buyers… Besides Rissa, I thought we were safe of it, at least for now.”

“Juvia thinks that you are. The Boss took a liking in Juvia, and just Juvia.” The façade Juvia put in front of her cellmates needed to keep up, otherwise their small spark of hope could vanish and none of the girls could afford to lose hope. “But don’t worry, Fairy Tail is coming.”

“I hope so, Juvia.” Laura sighed. “The auction is tomorrow.”

“They are c…” The blunette started, but stopped as soon as a burning pain started to be felt on her left leg, right above her guild mark. She hissed in discomfort, but as soon as it started, stopped. “What on earth that crazy man gave Juvia?”

“What is it?” The blonde woman from Harpia Wing asked.

“Nothing. Just another little something to feel pain.” The Water Mage expected it to hurt again, and when it didn’t, she shrugged and resumed the conversation with Laura; maybe her body was starting to go insane and feeling random pain everywhere.

#

Mirajane walked out from Fairy Tail’s infirmary, looking down to the map as everyone gathered around her, asking all types of questions. ‘Was Master alright?’ ‘Did the spell work?’ ‘What’s the town’s name?’

“Master is alright, he just needs to rest and to take his medicine.” The white haired woman said kindly. “The spell worked and it told us the town’s name. It’s west from here, it’ll take a few hours to get there but that’s where Juvia is.” She put the map down and showed. “The name of the town is Hestire.”

Gray felt the anger he was trying to hold inside rise: she was just a couple of hours away from them, being held and god knows what else. Master’s words, telling him to keep it together. His mission was to get Juvia back and for that, he needed to get focused.

“There’s a train that go there every day and it’ll be leaving in one hour.” Erza was looking to a brochure, where all the trains schedule were written.

“And we’ll be on it.” Gray said. And when he get there and got Juvia, those bastards were going to pay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we go! This chapter was a little bit more focused on Gray, but… They are finally going and Gray is fired up! I hope this isn’t going in a slow pace. :)


	8. Two Steps Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  “Can you hear me calling? Calling for you.  
> Can you hear me screaming? Screaming for you  
> It is like I'm naked out in the rain  
> Alone and dealing with the pain”  
> Dead By April – Calling

Hestire was a big town, and having a port, meant that people from all over Fiore and neighbors countries were there, making things even harder for the Fairy Tail mages to get a lead on anyone that could take them to their lost comrade.  
  
They arrived in town half an hour later after three hours in a train and the teams were easily formed. The strangest part was that Gray insisted that Natsu went with him. No one was more confused than the pink haired boy, but he was too weak with motion sickness to care.  
  
“It’s difficult to get a real sniff out of all of these people.” Natsu groaned but continued to do his job around the open marker. “There are too many smells.”  
  
“Aye sir!” Happy said, flying around the boys.  
  
Gray was also trying to look at everything he could, so he could see find something that could lead to Juvia. “Keep going, Natsu.” The Ice Mage said, trying his best not to flip and so something crazy, like start a fight and gain attention.  
  
After walking around for forty-five minutes, Natsu stopped and sniffed the air around him harder; frowning slightly.  
  
“I smell her.” Gray stopped and turned around to see his guild mate. “It’s faint, so it’s not coming from her directly. It’s like… like when you hug someone and your smell sticks on the person for a while.” The pink haired boy started to follow the smell and Gray was right behind him. “It’s that guy!” Natsu pointed to a man. Gray didn’t want to know how he got Juvia’s smell all over him. “Let’s get him!”  
  
Gray stopped Natsu by grabbing his scarf and grabbing Happy’s tail. Oh, how he wanted to just jump the guy and make him talk, but he had to keep his head leveled, keep his cool like Master said, otherwise he could lose the best lead they had on getting Juvia back and he couldn’t have it.  
  
“No.” Gray made Natsu turn around when the man started to walk again to not raise suspicions, but kept his dark eyes on him the whole time, hatred emanating from the Fairy Tail Mage. “We have to follow him to find Juvia. If we get him and he doesn’t talk, his friends might get suspicious and the selling is today. We follow him, but if the doesn’t go anywhere that might be where they are holding Juvia, we’re getting him.”  
  
“But…”  
  
“Natsu.” Gray said forcibly and angry, holding Natsu by the shoulders a little too strongly, while staring at the man who had Juvia’s smell. “We. Are. Following. Him.”  
  
The Dragon Slayer stared at Gray and saw a man close to breaking and fighting as hard as he could not to. “Fine.” Natsu nodded. “We’re following him.” The Salamander shrugged Gray’s hands from him, freed his blue friend and both started to follow the man.

#

During two more hours, Natsu and Gray followed the man, seeing him ask for enormous quantities of food to be delivered in the same address, and in other stores he just confirmed a few deliveries and then finally started to walk away from the open market.

Natsu still wanted to grab the guy, Gray could see, but understood that for now following was the best way to get what they wanted. The Ice Mage wanted to grab the guy too and ‘talk’ to him, but wouldn’t. Not until he saw that Juvia was safe.

The good thing about having a Dragon Slayer by your side while you followed someone was the fact that it was possible to be in a safe distance and still not lose your target, since the sense of smell of a Dragon Slayer was the best.

But when the guy took a road that looked abandoned, they couldn’t just walk behind; they needed to wait a few minutes before following. Thankfully, the guy seemed not to have noticed either and continued on his merry way.

“What the hell…?” Natsu whispered when after a turn on a rock, the guy was gone. “Where…?”

Gray frowned for a moment and walked in the direction the guy supposedly went, Natsu following him, and found himself facing an invisible wall.

“Juvia said that there were runes around where she was.” Gray looked up and saw some inscriptions. “It says that only the ones who had the invitation can enter.” The Ice Mage informed Natsu. “And I think this road leads to where they have her.” Gray breathed in deeply. “We found it. We found where they are keeping her.”

#

Juvia barely slept, nightmares about the selling tormenting her during the whole night. The girls were looking paler than usual, of course.

It was the day of the Auction.

“Where are your friends, Juvia?” One of the girls asked and Juvia’s head hurt even more; it had been pounding since the day before with the Boss. “I thought you said…”

“They are coming.” Juvia whispered; a hand on her temple. “Juvia knows it and feels it. They will come here.”

“But…”

“No buts. There are no buts.” The Water Mage said strongly. “They will come and they will come today.”

The girl stopped talking and nodded, not entirely believing the blunette, but not daring to say.

“Juvia.” Laura sat close to the blue haired girl, also not looking so good. “The buyers will be here in six hours. Rissa told me that they will put handcuffs with runes on us, tend our wounds then we will take a bath and put some clothes so we can be… presentable.”

The Water Mage touched her lip, where it was cut. “Of course. We can’t just look like we’ve been through hell if they are trying to sell us.”

“They stopped giving us food for the past two days too so we are weaker.” Laura said. “They deserve to go through hell.”

“They will.” Juvia assured the Harpia Wing Mage. “Fairy Tail is coming and they will suffer for what they did.”

Laura tilted her head to the side. “No one is coming, Juvia. Maybe it’s time to face that.” The blonde girl was surprised when she saw a smile on Juvia’s lips, right before she said:

“Never.”

#

“Natsu, you go get the others.” Gray turned to look to the pink haired boy, who frowned. “I will stay here and you go find them.”

“I am not letting you here so you can go in there like some crazy bastard.” Natsu crossed his arms above his chest. “I want it in too.”

“Listen, okay? Every second we argue…” Gray passed a hand through his hair, getting impatient. “You can smell and find them quicker than I would. And if it’s needed, I can follow someone who comes out of there” He pointed to the invisible wall behind him. “and you can smell me if it comes to that. It’s logic, I am not going inside because I can’t; it’s physically impossible for me to enter.” The Ice Mage sighed. “We need Freed and Levy to lift the runes so we can rescue Juvia and whoever else is trapped inside.” Gray said. “Go. I’ll hide behind those trees and keep a look out.”

“He’s right, Natsu.” Happy agreed.

Natsu hesitated, but nodded. “You better be here when I get back, you Ice bastard.”

“Just go, Fire breath.” Gray saw Happy grab Natsu and fly away. When he couldn’t see his friend anymore, he turned to the direction his current goal was and whispered. “Don’t you dare give up, Juvia. Just wait a little more.”

#

“All of you.” A man yelled and the girls gasped in frighten horror. “The doctors will see you now.” Juvia got up with difficulty; her leg was still hurting. She could see that there were about seven big guys that looked very mean and strong. “We will open the cages and you will make a line. And don’t try anything stupid; we are mages and we will hurt you if you try to escape.”

When the two cells were open and the girls started to line up; Juvia could finally see their faces with clarity. They were nothing more than children, scared and hopeless. Most of them looked young, not much older than Wendy, and they were facing such horror.

Juvia needed Fairy Tail to save them.

With Laura’s help, Juvia was about to get in line when the man who spoke earlier, grabbed her by the arm with much more force than it was necessary; putting her body collide with his. He chuckled evilly. “Not you, little Fairy. The Boss wants to have one more go with you.”

The Water Mage saw Laura’s eyes widen, the horror clearly in her face. Even Juvia feared for herself, seeing that the Boss had been containing himself. She knew that he wanted to have her and this time he might do it.

“Juvia will be fine.” The blunette got free of the man’s grip and wrapped her arms around the blonde girl, and whispered. “Don’t worry. Help’s on the way.”

“Let go!” The man pulled Juvia by her hair and pushed her roughly to the ground, just to pull her back up again. “The Boss is waiting for ya!”

Juvia looked over her shoulder, staring at the girls one more time before she was in route to see the Boss. And her gut was telling her that this ‘visit’ was going to be the worst of them all.

#

The man took the handcuffs off of her wrists before shoving her inside The Room, where the Boss had touched and beaten her. But this time, there was little light and there was a chair on a dark corner where she could see the Boss eyeing, waiting for her.

The door closed behind her and Juvia’s heart began to beat faster. Something wasn’t right.

“I understand you send a distress sign, my little Fairy.” The Boss was sitting on a chair, his chin resting on his hands and Juvia froze. The light was limited, but the Water Mage could see that he had his feet on something but didn’t think much of it. “I am not worried, since you don’t know where we are.”

Juvia was feeling a chill on her spine. He was calm. He was too calm. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

“You see… I saw that someone messed with my office; I leave the handle in a way every time I leave the room and yesterday, when I returned, it changed” His voice was calm. “My men know not to enter my office, they know the consequences for it, but Rissa? She had no idea. And she would never thought of it on her own and you… you my dear… You are the only one here that still has fire inside.” The Boss smiled evilly. “I knew it was you. You have the guts to face me.”

“Where’s Rissa?” Juvia asked, her stomach dropping when his smile widened. The Boss moved his feet and the movement caught Juvia’s attention and the blunette could finally see on what he had his feet on; her eyes were used to the lack of light at that point.

“We had fun all night long, but… She couldn’t keep up with me.” The brown hair, the too white skin, the open eyes now blue and opaque and open, forever in horror. “I think you’ll have to take her job. She was a naughty, naughty girl.”

“Rissa?” Juvia whispered, looking wide eyes to the body of the girl who helped her the day before, and then raised her voice. “Rissa…? No... NO!”


	9. Keep Holding On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  “Keep holding on  
> ‘Cause you know we'll make it through,  
> We’ll make it through  
> Just stay strong  
> ‘Cause you know I'm here for you,  
> I'm here for you”  
> Avril Lavigne – Keep Holding On

“Come on, Freed.” Gray told the green haired man as he worked to get the runes undone. Natsu had arrived ten minutes earlier with the rest of their friends and Freed had been trying to break through the invisible wall.  
  
“Calm down, Gray.” Erza told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “If you rush him, it might actually make him slower.”  
  
“I know. It’s just…” The dark haired man looked towards the wall. “She’s there, waiting for us, for me. I promised, Erza. And today, according to her will have an Auction. What if we get in there too late?”  
  
“We won’t.” The Titania told him. “Keep your cool, for when we do get in. We will find her and she’ll be safe.”  
  
“You can’t possibly know that.” Gray hissed. “Everyone I’ve ever…” He looked away. “This is so frustrating.”  
  
“Look, this time you can save someone you love.” The scarlet haired woman told him. “You’ll just need to keep it together.”  
  
After a deep sigh, Gray walked to Natsu’s side, calling him and then stepping where their friends couldn’t hear them. “I need you with me again.”  
  
“What? Didn’t we spend too much time together already?” The pink haired boy asked.  
  
“Natsu. Please.” Gray said between gritted teeth, he hated asking for favors, but this time he couldn’t take chances, he would never forgive himself if they didn’t find her sooner rather than later. “Your nose will find her sooner and I have, I need to find her sooner.” Natsu had no idea of what to say, so he stayed in a shocked silence. “Think if it was Lucy in there, hurt and scared.” Even if the Ice Mage were blind to his own feelings, it didn’t mean he couldn’t see the connection between those two. “Think of how much you’d want to see her with you, safe. Please, I beg…”  
  
“Say nothing else.” Natsu put a hand on his friend’s shoulder as his eyes hardened and the pinkette started to walk away. He was not having his rival begging, not for not only a mutual friend, but to save someone it was clear Gray wanted to desperately save from harm. “I’ll track her down and she will be fine. Juvia’s not leaving you today, you’ll get her in time.” Natsu walked back where Lucy held Happy.  
  
He remembered when he saw Future Lucy die in front of his eyes and he would not let his nakama feel as incapacitated and helpless as he felt once. No, they would get Juvia and she would be fine.  
  
“Guys.” Freed called his friends. “It’s done, we can enter.”  
  


#

Juvia was not good in hand-to-hand combat, in fact, she sucked. Her water always provided her with the space she needed to both protect and attack, but desperation could make her a good sparring partner for the Boss, it appeared.

Since she entered the room and saw Rissa, Juvia had launched herself on the horrible man, trying her best to get him in any way she could: kicking, scratching, biting, and punching.

Why would he do that to a sweet girl like Rissa? She just wanted out of a crappy life where she was abused, she just wanted to be free again.

The Boss just laughed at her attempts to hurt him; too weak and hurt to do more than just yell and punch his chest with her tiny fists.

“You’ll need to do more than this, sweetheart.” The Boss said in her ear after turning her around and grabbed the girl from behind, inciting a roar of anger inside the Water Mage.

She was never so angry in her whole life before. Never. Not even when Meredy wanted her Gray-sama’s life. She was the one who put Rissa in all of that, there were girls being sold away like they were possessions and shipped away, and it was all that man’s fault.

Juvia threw her hand back, and hit him hard enough so he loosened his grip as she freed herself. Her already ripped clothes only covered the basics, but she couldn’t care less if it really showed anything, that man had already seen everything, she only wanted to hurt him.

“I knew you would be fun.” The Boss touched where her head connected with his chin and smiled. “I am a sadist son of a bitch and see you finally fighting back is very, very arousing.”

“I hate you!” She hissed and the man laughed.

“Oh, I know. That’s why I am buying you for myself. I want to break you.” They started to walk around the room without even realize. “You from Fairy Tail think you are better than everyone else… Guess what? I can break a Fairy, pull out her wings and make her beg for mercy.”

“You won’t have the chance.” Juvia said and saw him march towards her, but she wasn’t fast enough to run. He grabbed her by her arm and then slapped her so hard that she bit her cheek. Tasting her own blood made her sick and he was about to slap her again, the blunette felt it again. It was tiny, since her body was too damaged to give her more power than that, but she felt her magic.

The second slap came and instead of connecting with her cheek, his hand went through, she was made of water once again. He frowned in confusion and when Juvia’s face returned to normal, her eyes were hard as everything he ever did to her was remembered.

The Boss was about to become her bitch.

#

The place they held the girls was an old house with a basement which had many directions: it was like a labyrinth. Gray was following the Dragon Slayer and Lucy was tagging along, Erza went to find where they kept the other girls, while the Raijinshuu plus Cana went in another direction.

During their descend, all of them fought some guards, but they were ridiculously weak, and could only take the girls because they had no magic

“Hurry.” Natsu said, suddenly more serious.

“What is it?” Gray asked, concerned.

“I smell her, but now there’s blood in the air. I don’t know if it’s hers.” The Dragon slayer said and they heard Lucy gasp in horror.

“Shit.” The Ice Mage cussed, and started to run faster after Natsu.

“I can hear her. We are close.”

#

Juvia was covered in her own blood, a deep cut in her lip was open again and it was bleeding like there was no tomorrow, the effort made her ribs hurt even more, but she didn’t care. She had beaten him so much using her water, as much as her broken body could handle.

When the man was down, his breathing hard and moaning in pain, Juvia was still up and with the adrenalin still running through her body, the pain she felt was nothing. She started to kick him on the stomach as hard as she could.

“You are a scumbag!” She shouted while kicked him again. “You are lucky that Juvia is in Fairy Tail now and we don’t kill our enemies.” Juvia kicked his crotch and he yelled in pain. “And if I killed you, the gods know that if I did, not a soul would condemn me!” She kicked his crotch once again and the man passed out, but before he did, he heard her say. “Don’t you ever mess with a Fairy Tail Mage!”

Seeing that he was passed out, Juvia stumbled all the way across the room, legs shaking and utterly exhausted she leaned on the wall and let herself fall to the ground. It didn’t matter if the guards would come in later, she just needed to rest for a moment before taking them all and free the girls.

She just needed to close her eyes for a moment.

#

Gray used his magic to knock the door Natsu pointed as where Juvia was down, and then both men entered the room, Lucy followed right behind him. They were surprised with the sight in front of them: Juvia was on the floor, apparently covered in blood, her face pressed on the ground. She had a black eye, cut lip and her clothes were thorn, her breasts barely covered, her skirt was cut so badly that they could see the side of her panties. One of her hands was pressing against her ribs. The three mages and the Exceed could see the bruises on her shoulders, it were purple in the middle and a nasty green color around it.

Across the room there were two people lying on the floor too, but they paid more attention to their companion.

“Juvia.” Gray whispered, kneeling in front of her and she didn’t seem to hear. He gently touched her arm. Her eyes went wide with the touch and she sat, fast, trying to punch him and then threw water in his direction, but the Ice Mage dodged it: she was weak and slower, otherwise that could’ve hurt a lot.

“Juvia, it’s me!” He grabbed the blunette by the shoulders. “Juvia, it’s Gray.”

As if she was stepping out of a dream, she stopped moving and finally stared at him, her eyes focusing and lighting up with the mention of his name.

“Gray-sama?” She asked in a whisper. “Are you really here?”

“Yes.” He responded her and the woman relaxed her whole body.

“You found Juvia, Gray-sama. I knew you would.” Her body went forward to fall over once again, but he caught her before it could reach the floor.

“I got you.” Gray gently lowered the floor. He immediately started to take off his white coat to cover her up. He was worried that she was more than beaten up. “Here, Juvia. Put this on.”

“It will get all dirty.” Juvia whined almost without forces. It appeared that the adrenaline was lowering and she was finally feeling the pain and tiredness once again.

“Don’t worry.” Gray told the girl kindly. “It’s old.” She nodded and allowed him to put the coat around her. She didn’t like to have to sit again for it and moaned in pain a few times and then Gray started to do the buttons. Whatever happened to her, the fewer people who saw her like that, the best.

“Man…” Gray heard Natsu’s voice as he talked to Lucy and the Ice Mage recalled that he was not alone in the room with Juvia. “She did a number on this guy.” The dark haired man looked over his shoulder and saw that there was indeed someone lying on the ground. There was some appreciation on the Salamander’s voice. “Kick ass.”

‘That’s my girl.’ Gray thought with pride and then heard Lucy gasp loudly. When he looked over his shoulder once again, she saw that the blonde was behind the pink haired man, Happy behind the Stellar Mage, protecting himself as well.

“Oh, god. She is dead, Natsu.” The blonde said, voice trembling.

Gray cussed inside his mind and returned his attention to the hurt woman in his arms – he didn’t even realize that he had embraced her. “Juvia, did he…?” The Ice Mage couldn’t bring himself to say. “All he did was to beat you up?”

The girl was a little out of it, but answered anyways, snuggling against the man. “He groped Juvia,” she whispered. “and he tried to do more, but Juvia didn’t let him. But she couldn’t keep him from kissing her.” He saw that she lost consciousness once again.

Looking over his shoulder again to stare at the man lying on the floor as anger boiled inside him. Natsu gave two steps towards the man and then kicked the man on the stomach – the Salamander would not have people trying to rape his nakama getting out without some ass kicking –, which made the blonde man moan in pain and open his eyes.

When the Boss saw that there were more people inside the room, he groaned. “Oh, fuck.”

“Yes, you are.” The Dragon Slayer said and then punched the older man on the face, throwing him a few feet away from him. Lucy yelled his name.

“Natsu.” Gray called his friend and when the pink haired boy made a sound that he was listening, the Ice Mage proceeded. “Take Juvia and Lucy out. I need to talk to that guy.”

The Dragon Slayer straightened his body and nodded, turning around from the scumbag that couldn’t be called a man. He kneeled in front of Gray and Juvia.

“Gray…” The blonde woman tried to talk him out of it.

“Leave him, Lucy.” Natsu stopped her. “This is something he has to do.”

“But…”

“We’ll wait outside.” Natsu told the Ice Mage while he picked Juvia up carefully and got up, going to the door. “Do what you have to do.” Natsu made Lucy and Happy leave the room. Once they closed the door, Gray got up and turned to look to the man.

“It appears that my little Fairy has a boyfriend.” Gray stared with contempt to the man. “And he is angry.”

“You haven’t seen a thing.” The Ice Mage’s voice was dark as he did the same Natsu did a few moments before, punching the blonde on the face, but instead of just flying a few feet, he flew to the other side of the room. The Boss groaned in pain and Gray just went after him again. “You’ll regret ever touching her.”

#

Five minutes later, Gray was out of the room, sweating. He looked straight to Natsu’s arms where he saw Juvia, with her eyes still closed. He took her from the Dragon Slayer.

“Gray… is he…?” Lucy asked, fearful of the response. There were a few loud noises inside the room and maybe the Ice Mage forgot to keep his cool and did something harsh.

“The bastard is still alive.” Gray said with gritted teeth; it was clear that the ‘alive status’ didn’t please him much. “We don’t kill, even bastards who deserves it.”

The blonde sighed in relief. Lucy looked to Gray’s hands and saw that his knuckles were bruised, and she frowned. Why did he…?

The it hit her: he didn’t use his magic; he had kicked that bastard’s ass with his own strength.

Holding the unconscious Juvia on his arms, he started to take her away from there, and the feeling that she was finally safe with him was too good. She was safe. She was with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not going to lie: as I wrote this chapter, I was laughing maniacally while the Boss was beaten.


	10. The Beginning of the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “This time, this place,  
> Misused, mistakes  
> Too long, too late  
> Who was I to make you wait?  
> Just one chance, just one breath  
> Just in case there's just one left”  
> Nickelback – Far Away

“Someone tell me what the hell is going on?” Gajeel, followed by Jet, Droy, Levy and Lily walked inside the Hospital of Hestire where their Guild mates were waiting for news about Juvia for about half an hour – a doctor was tending to her wounds. “Jet comes to get me because someone abducted Juvia and when I arrive in Magnolia, Short Stuff here” he points at the petit blunette, who was staying by his side. “says that Juvia is getting sold? What the hell?”  
  
“Shh.” A nurse shushed the tall man, who just ignored the woman.  
  
“Where is she?” Gajeel asked the people in the room.  
  
“Safe.” Erza answered the red eyed man. “There’s a doctor with her now. But we arrived before those bastards sold her and the other girls.”  
  
Gajeel gritted his teeth and his hands turned into fists. “So it’s true: they were going to sell her.”  
  
“Yes.” The Titania nodded and the Dragon Slayer wanted to kick or punch something or someone; he was so angry with everything at the moment. He was no angel; he got Lucy to return her to her father, not to sell her to some creep.  
  
Gajeel, then, noticed that Gray was further away from the rest, looking straight to the hallway, looking more eager to receive news than the rest – not that their nakama weren’t concerned, but Gray seemed more restless than the others –, so, the Iron Dragon Slayer walked towards the Ice Mage and when was close enough, saw that the other man’s knuckles bruised.  
  
Out of earshot from the others – except Natsu and Laxus, of course –, Gajeel spoke to the slightly shorter man:  
  
“Tell me.” The Dragon Slayer wasn’t blind and by what Levy told him, Gray became stressed when they caught the stress signal from Juvia; and it was as clear as it could be, that the man was troubled by the situation.  
  
Gray looked at Gajeel, his expression was dark. “There was this guy. He…” The Ice Mage took a deep breath to calm himself down. “He hurt Juvia. Touched her and was going to sell her. I took care of him, after she did, of course.”  
  
The Dragon Slayer’s blood boiled with Gray’s words; his best friend was… “Did you kill him?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Good, I want a piece of that son of a bitch.” Gajeel said darkly. “How was she when you found her?”  
  
“I’ve never seen her like that.” Gray returned his gaze towards the hallway. “After all this time, I never saw her like that before.”  
  
And that was saying something, Gajeel thought; they went through hell and back while in Fairy Tail and most of the times, Gray was beside Juvia and if he hadn’t seen her in such a state, the Dragon Slayer dreaded to think of how his friend was.  
  
“Where is he?” Gajeel didn’t need to say who ‘he’ was, Gray already knew.  
  
“Here at the hospital. Juvia had already done some damage when we arrived, I just finished the job.” The Ice Mage said. “He’s down the hall.” The man was going to point the room to Gajeel – as far as he was concerned, the Boss would love to meet Juvia’s best friend after meeting her… boyfriend. (He was a boy and a friend) –, but his attention diverted when the doctor whom he gave Juvia to started to walk towards the waiting room.  
  
“Relatives of Juvia Lockser?” The doctor was young, dark curly hair, slim figure and green narrow eyes.  
  
“Here.” Gray said at the same time that every other person in the room did the same. The woman raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Well, I remember you.” The doctor looked at Gray then stared at the others. “The rest of you…”  
  
“We’re her family.” Erza said, showing her guild mark to the dark haired woman. Lucy raised her hand, also showing the mark and everyone who could share it, did it.  
  
“I see.” The woman nodded. “From what I could gather, she is one of the girls that were rescued from the bastards who intended to sell them, right? News travel fast.”  
  
“How is she?” Gray asked, anxious, Gajeel right by his side.  
  
“Miss Lockser is going to be fine; her ribs are bruised, not broken, and she’s exhausted, but beyond that, all the bruises are going to heal just fine. Especially if that Dragon Slayer you guys have at your Guild takes care of her: miss Wendy Marvell is famous amongst doctors.” Everyone let out a sigh in relief. “We also were instructed to see if there was any sexual assault in all the girls, but she wasn’t assaulted.”  
  
The relief washed over Gray so hard that he felt light headed for a moment. “When can we see her?”  
  
“She’s asleep, so I can only allow one person right now, but when she’s up, you all can visit her, she’ll probably wake up soon.” She said and all the eyes went to Gray.  
  
“Go, Gray. She’ll want to see you when she wakes up.” Lucy told him sweetly, by Natsu’s side as the others nodded in agreement.  
  
‘Oh, fuck it.’ The Ice Mage thought. He couldn’t hide how much of a mess he was from his friends and to tell the truth, he hated that half an hour he couldn’t see her.  
  
“I’ll go.” Gray stepped forwards, but before following the doctor, Gajeel grabbed the Ice Mage’s shoulder, and leaned in.  
  
“Where is he?” Gajeel asked in a whisper, and the only people who could hear him wouldn’t lift a finger to prevent the Dragon Slayer to go after the Boss.  
  
“Third door on the left.” Gray whispered back; he saw some policemen bring the bastard in. Gajeel knew the ‘non-killing’ thing from Fairy Tail, but that didn’t mean that the Boss couldn’t meet death’s worse sister: so-much-pain-I-wish-I-was-dead. Turning to the doctor, Gray nodded, telling her that he was ready to go to Juvia’s room. “The other girls… They are yet to contact their families. Could you tell me how they are? Juvia will like to know about them when she wakes up.”  
  


#

Juvia opened her eyes and quickly sat; looking around, scared and then felt a pair of hands hold her shoulders lightly.

“Wow, calm down, Juvia.” Gray said softly and the blunette stared at him, confused. Was she dreaming? Usually when she dreamt of her Gray-sama, they were more intimate than that. “Do you know where you are? What happened?”

“What happened?” She tilted her head to the side, frowning and then it all came back to her. The kidnapping. The Boss. Touching. Rissa. The girls. Gray-sama there… “Oh, god. Gray-sama!” She didn’t care if he was going to reject her: the young woman wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him as hard as she could. “You came. You really…” Her eyes watered and she felt him hug her right back and never felt better – her aching muscles barely processing in her mind –, his warmth surrounding her like a warm blanket. “For a moment Juvia thought that she would never see you again.” The blunette whispered.

“Yeah, me too.” The Ice Mage whispered right back. “But I promised to get you, didn’t I?”

“You did.” Juvia hugged him tighter, both staying like that for a few moments, just enjoying the safety.

Juvia, impressively, was the first to break their contact, pulling Gray away from her (even if she didn’t want to). “The other girls. Where…? Are they…?”

“They were rescued as well.” The man reassured her. “Aside from a few bruising and a little dehydration, they will be fine.”

“And… and Rissa?” Juvia whispered and when she saw confusion on Gray’s expression, she clarified. “The girl who was in the room with Juvia and… The Boss.”

The man looked sympathetic. “She was dead when we arrived, Juvia.” The blunette started to cry, and this time it was Gray who brought her closer to him, hugging the girl while she cried on his chest. “I’m sorry.” He said it over and over again, while petting her hair, not knowing exactly what to do.

“She died because she helped us.” The Water Mage said after a few minutes of crying. “Without her Juvia wouldn’t have been able to use the Lachryma to contact you.”

“I am sorry.” Gray told her once again, and he really was sorry; Juvia didn’t deserve to feel guilty about the girl’s death, but if he knew the blunette, she was already blaming herself. “It was that bastard’s fault, not yours.” Juvia nodded, but Gray knew that only words wouldn’t make her believe, so, he tried to lighten up the mood. “The guys are outside. Are you okay with seeing them?”

Apparently, that was the right thing to say, because the tears stopped and she, reluctantly, let him go and offered a small and hesitant smile. She touched her hair, trying to arrange it better. “Is Juvia looking too bad?”

Gray took in her appearance; wearing a hospital gown, she looked tiny and fragile with her eyes red and puffy from crying, the black eye and cut on her lip contrasted with her white skin. But she didn’t look bad.

She looked like a survivor who fought for her life and won.

“You look fine.” Gray told her and Juvia told him that she would love to see her friends. He nodded and went to fetch them.

There were many hugs and crying from the girls’ side, while the man stood in a safe distance to not get caught in the middle of so much hugging. Gajeel wasn’t present when their guild mates went to see Juvia, appearing almost fifteen minutes later.

Gray, who was by the door, looking it all from afar, saw the man slip inside the room, and seeing the Dragon Slayer’s expression, asked: “Did you introduce yourself?”

“Yeah.” Gajeel nodded, staring straight at Juvia’s direction and gritting his teeth. “If I had known that she looked like that, I would’ve done worse. That sadist son of a bitch didn’t get as half as he needed. And he kept saying…”

“What did he say?” Gray frowned.

“That wasn’t over for her.” Gajeel pointed towards Juvia with his chin and a chill ran up into Gray’s spine: the last time he felt that, Juvia was kidnapped, but this time he could see her talking to their friends, safe and sound. “I have no idea of what that bastard was talking about, Gray, but I didn’t like it. His eyes were glowing with happiness, even though he knew she is safe now.” The Dragon Slayer said to the Ice Mage. “I don’t like this. Something else is happening and the bastard won’t say what, I saw in his eyes.”

“She is fine.” Gray told the Dragon Slayer. “And I’ll make sure she stays fine.”

“We better.” The red eyed man offered Gray a look and then walked towards the blunette girl. “Hey, Ame-onna! I leave you for five minutes and you uncover a whole people traffic ring? What the hell?”

Gray saw Juvia laugh and grab Gajeel for a quick hug, but the words Gajeel told him, kept replaying in his mind. But it was over. It had to be over.

#

After about an hour, visit hours were over and their friends needed to leave. One of the nurses told them that her mother owned an inn that was almost empty, and they could stay there for the night. After saying their good-byes, everyone left, except for Gray: he was authorized to stay and the Ice Mage wasn’t going to tell the blunette that he let the nurses believe that he was Juvia’s boyfriend so he could stay during the night.

He just couldn’t leave her side just yet, not when he just got her back. Gray couldn’t say what that feeling was, but leaving the Water Mage would just worsen the situation.

“Go to the inn, Gray-sama.” Juvia said quietly after a while and the man shook his head. “That chair doesn’t look very comfortable.”

“No. I’m staying the night.” He shrugged and patted the chair. “It’s not as bad as you think.”

“Juvia’s sure it isn’t.” She chuckled and then groaned lightly because of the pain in her ribs and Gray’s dark eyes roamed over her body, wondering if the nurse was needed, but when saw that it wasn’t necessary, relaxed. “Go stay at the inn with the others; Juvia is safe here.”

“I know.” Gray didn’t move from his new acclaimed chair; he chose not to tell that a few meters away from her room, the Boss was being tended, even if there were guards by his door now. They were in silence for a few moments before Juvia tried to kick him out once more, he just couldn’t take it. “Dammit, Juvia! I am not going away from you. The last time I did, you ended up in some forsaken town ready to go to auction and beaten up. You can bitch as much as you want: I am staying here.” The Water Mage was surprised with his outburst. Gray crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, like he was trying to sleep, but both knew that he was fooling no one.

Silence fell once again for a few minutes, before the blunette spoke, softly: “Gray-sama knows that… none of this is his fault, right?” The man scoffed without opening his eyes. “No, really: it’s not.”

“Juvia,” The Ice Mage opened his eyes, many feelings on them. “You asked me to go with you…”

“Juvia always does that…” The blunette said.

“…and I said ‘no.’” Gray finished;

“Like you always do.” Juvia said, kindly. “That’s our thing, Gray-sama.”

“Sometimes I tag along.” The dark haired man pointed out.

“Yes.” The blunette agreed.

“And when you needed me to go with you…” Guilty was evident in the man’s expression, making Juvia feel bad for him.

“You had no way of knowing what was going to happen, Gray-sama.” She said, trying to soothe the man. “It’s not your fault.”

“You are covered in bruises, Juvia. You were beaten and god knows what else and if I had gone with you, nothing of it would’ve happen.” Gray had his hands on fists, trying to control his anger and then, he opened them. Juvia saw Gray hide his face on his hands, sighing and breathing heavily.

“It’s true, it was pretty awful.” She said after a while. “Juvia will probably feel terrible for a long time, but it’ll pass.” Gray removed his face from his hands to stare at her. “But… as awful as it was, Juvia would go through it again.”

The man was confused, why on earth would she want to go through it again? “What are you…?”

“Yes, Juvia was caught, beaten; but she was also saved. And because Fairy Tail went after her, those girls would’ve been sold and the council would never know about the Mage Auctions. Juvia likes to think that the moment she was caught, she helped save the thirteen girls that were there.” The blunette talked softly. “She regrets putting Rissa in harm’s way and she’ll always carry that weight, but… Those girls can go home again. Juvia can go home again.”

Gray thought about it for a few moments, and sighed. She was right, of course: her being taken turned out to be the passport for the girls to be found and released. It didn’t matter, though: he was supposed to take care of her. It was an instinct he have been developing in a while and appeared with total force after the kidnapping.

“It’s true. But I’m sleeping here anyways.” He shrugged and tried to find a good position to sleep

#

In the next day, Juvia was discharged; the doctor said that it was better for her to go home, what she really needed was to have plenty of rest so she could heal – and not to strain herself with heavy things for about two weeks, so her ribs could heal better –, but before leaving the blunette asked to see the rest of the girls.

Gray, of course, went with her, helping her to be on her feet – she had a pretty awful bruise on her thigh – and, during the last visit, he met a woman with dirty blonde hair called Laura Birdsong, who, when saw Juvia, run towards the blunette, enveloping the woman in a tight hug.

“Thank you.” The blonde kept repeating it and Juvia just hugged her back. “I doubted it for a few moments, but you really delivered… They came to save us.”

“Like Juvia said they would.” The Water Mage smiled softly and then lost it, her eyes watering. “Juvia is so sorry about Rissa.”

“I know.” Laura took the blunette’s hands. “I am feeling terribly guilty.”

“Me too.” The Water Mage said, sighing. “When you hear from her family, would you let Juvia know? She wants to…”

“Yeah, me too.” The blonde looked sad for a moment, before saying, trying to lighten the mood: “Who’s the hottie?” Laura asked, and for the first time, Juvia didn’t get mad at another woman for thinking that Gray was handsome, instead, she laughed through tears.

“That’s Gray-sama.”

“Gray Fullbuster.” The Ice Mage offered a hand to the blonde, who took it.

“Laura Birdsong.” She answered and then looked to Juvia. “When you said he was handsome, I thought you were sugar coating the truth, but I can see that you were not.”

Juvia giggled and then removed Laura’s hands from a blushing Gray. “Well, this one is not available.”

“Too bad.” Laura sighed in fake pity.

Gray cleared his throat. “Juvia, sorry, but we have a train to catch…”

The blonde hugged the Water Mage again. “Keep strong, Juvia. I’ll write you.”

“Please, do.” The blunette said and then stepped away from the blonde woman. “Good luck.”

“You too. And thank you again.” Laura smiled, turning to Gray, she said: “You, pretty boy, take care of her.”

Juvia blushed, and so did Gray, but he muttered an ‘I will’ before turning away to leave, with Juvia by his side. The words the Boss said to Gajeel still haunting him, but he promised to keep her safe from then on, and he would keep it, no matter what it took.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there we go, this one is finally finished! How did you like it? :D Crappy ending? Nice? Not nice?

**Author's Note:**

> The things I make Juvia go through.


End file.
